


Sea Change

by Hajinnie



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Character Development, Comedy, Developing Relationship, Domestic, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Friendship/Love, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-10-21 01:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 82,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17633372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hajinnie/pseuds/Hajinnie
Summary: Chanyeol, a famous music producer is embroiled in a plagiarizing scandal. He then moves to a rural island to hide and find inspiration to produce an original comeback album.There, Chanyeol meets Kyungsoo, a fisherman who loves his small-town life. Although they don't have similar goals and dreams, they discover new things to learn from each other and maybe develop a deeper relationship along the way.





	1. Of  Repercussions and New Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> *I usually leave warnings or notes about the fic in the beginning but I realized that I didn't need any for this. It's going to be fluff, development and mostly wholesomeness with a dash of humor. I'm just going to plug my twitter and cc anyway:
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hajinnie)   
>  [CC](https://curiouscat.me/hajinnie)

 

On the first day of July, Chanyeol woke up at eight-thirty in the morning like he routinely did every day. Chanyeol always made sure that he got at least seven and a half hours of sleep so he could wake up feeling refreshed and ready to start his day. He read this fact on the internet somewhere. 

The first thing Chanyeol would do upon waking up was to reach for his phone on the bedside table to check how many new followers or new likes he had gained overnight on Instagram.

Then he’d read the new comments left on his pictures or short videos he posted. He’d like the comments praising him and occasionally left replies to those comments with heart emotes.

All the negative and disparaging comments would be deleted and sometimes, Chanyeol would even block their accounts. It was important that Chanyeol’s Instagram was filled with nothing but praise and adoration for him.

 

 

Park Chanyeol, also known by the songwriting pseudonym of LOEY, is a music producer signed under SM Entertainment. Chanyeol started writing and composing his own music in high school, which was also when he began submitting his tracks to record labels around Seoul.

Chanyeol continued to pursue music in college and also obtained a degree related to modern and applied music.

SM Entertainment signed Chanyeol right after college and for the past ten years of his career as a music producer, working for them was all he ever knew in life.

Chanyeol received fame from the songs he produced and wrote for SM Entertainment’s idol groups, which turned out to be a success on the charts and among the public.

Because of his good looks, some netizens had even suggested Chanyeol join a boy group, but he turned it down because he enjoyed writing and producing songs first and foremost.

 

 

 

 

That morning was a bit different though. Chanyeol not only woke up to the usual flood of Instagram notifications but also several missed calls and a bombardment of text messages, from his fellow producers and writers at SM Entertainment.

Chanyeol ignored the text messages to quickly call back one person who had missed called him, Lee Soo Man, the executive producer and founder of SM Entertainment.

Chanyeol had no idea what was going on and he just assumed it was something urgent for Lee Soo Man to be leaving him several missed calls and texts to call him back even before nine in the morning.

 

“Park Chanyeol!” Lee Soo Man yelled over the phone, while a loud thudding sound was heard in the background.

“Y-yes?” Chanyeol stuttered, afraid of his boss who instantly screamed at him over the phone. Chanyeol was still in his pajamas sporting a messy bedhead as he cringed over being scolded over the phone.

“What on earth do you think you are doing? Have you read the news!? Almost half of the songs you produced for CBX’s latest album which came out two days ago, were discovered to be plagiarized from an unsigned music producer! You said that you produced all those tracks by yourself! Why didn’t you tell me that you stole those tracks!” Lee Soo Man bombarded Chanyeol over the phone.

Even when Chanyeol pulled the phone away from his ear, he was still able to hear Lee Soo Man cursing at him while his assistant was trying to pacify him somewhere in the background.

“I-I..” Chanyeol was unable to form a response or lie his way through it again. He knew he was guilty and he knew what he did wrong.

“I don’t care! You come down to the office now and explain yourself! My stocks are plummeting down by the second as we speak. It hasn’t been this worse since Jessica left Girls’ Generation,” Lee Soo Man was then heard angrily weeping over the phone.

“Yes, I’m on my way there,” Chanyeol quickly ended the call and rushed out of bed.

 

 

There was no time to lounge around checking his phone while having breakfast which he usually did before working in his home studio every day.

Instead, Chanyeol dashed for the bathroom and quickly showered before throwing on the nearest pair of jeans and shirt he could find. Chanyeol grabbed his car keys, wallet and hat before running out of his apartment and slamming the elevator button down to the basement car park.

Once Chanyeol was inside his car, he quickly sped off and drove all the way down to the SM Entertainment building to meet Lee Soo Man.

 

 

When Chanyeol arrived at the building, all the staff he met on the way to Lee Soo Man’s office shook his head disapprovingly at him.

Chanyeol was already dying on the inside but he knew what he did.

 

When Chanyeol finally got to meet Lee Soo Man, his assistant was fanning him with a folder as he was hyperventilating on his high chair behind his desk.

“You! You better explain yourself right this instant! Do you know what you have done?” Lee Soo Man boomed, pushing his chair back and standing back up with a finger pointed at Chanyeol. His assistant had to restrain him from going around the desk and trying to choke Chanyeol.

“Huh?” Chanyeol pretended to be ignorant, surprised at Lee Soo Man suddenly jumping towards him.

“CBX! My best selling boy group is receiving flak and public disapproval because the songs you made for them were plagiarized! The real writer of the songs came out with the accusation and now that they have been proven, CBX is getting the rough end of it. My stocks are dropping and the netizens have begun speculating! Do you know what this means!?” Lee Soo Man shrieked.

“-but it’s not their fault. It’s mine, I’m really sorry. I will accept my responsibility for this I swear. I didn’t think it would be this bad,” Chanyeol pleaded, his hand shaking at the thought of the potential disaster this could mean.

“So you do admit you’re guilty of this. What is it that you did, Chanyeol?” Lee Soo Man jeered.

“I had no idea it would get this bad. I was facing writer’s block but I needed to produce a song fast for CBX’s comeback album. So I stole ideas and verses from this young aspiring writer who sent me his stuff, hoping that I could critique and comment on it.” Chanyeol explained, forced to fess up.

“You idiot,” Lee Soo Man slammed his fist down on the table, “I can’t believe you’d do something so stupid like that. You’re thirty-three years-old, Chanyeol! You’re a veteran in this industry and you should know better!”

“I’ll do anything you tell me to in order to control this situation. Anything, I swear. I’ll make a public apology if you want me to,” Chanyeol suggested in the midst of his panic.

“No need for that,” Lee Soo Man hissed, “I don’t want you ruining things than it already is. We will make a public statement soon but it is only to absolve CBX from the scandal because they had no part in this. We will pin the blame and responsibility fully on you, do you understand? This scandal is all your fault.”

“-but what will happen to me after that?” Chanyeol gasped, looking up at Lee Soo Man from the other side of the table with shaking hands lifted in front of his face.

“In our public statement which we’ll release in a few hours, we’ll say that you have been forced to take an indefinite leave, that you are sorry for what you have done and that you will take the time to reflect on your actions. You are not allowed to speak to anyone else of this and your actions will have to reflect what we tell the public. Do you understand?” Lee Soo Man asserted.

“Are you firing me?” Chanyeol blurted out.

“Fire you?” Lee Soo Man laughed, “We own your life and where can you go if you leave us anyway? Now leave before I change my mind.”

Chanyeol didn’t need to think twice before dashing out of the office and running back to the parking area.

 

 

 

As Chanyeol was driving out the SM Entertainment building, he spotted fans and the media gathered outside the building. Chanyeol thought they were just there to see an idol, only for him to see a signboard one of the fans help up reading, “CBX did nothing wrong”.

Chanyeol felt guiltier than ever and pulled the front of his cap lower over his face before driving away, hoping no one would recognize him.

 

 

Back at his apartment, Chanyeol turned off his phone, avoided the entertainment news channel and curled up on his bed watching movies while eating cup ramen for the rest of the day.

Chanyeol was still too scared and timid to face the repercussions of his actions, especially now that SM Entertainment had released an official statement on the scandal, absolving CBX of any involvement and directing the blame to the guilty as charged Chanyeol.

He was even scared of going out in public because he was afraid of people who might recognize him. Chanyeol decided that he would just have to survive on bottled water, instant ramen and delivery until the whole situation died down.

 

Abstaining from his phone cold turkey was proven too much for him, however. In the evening, Chanyeol’s temptation got the better of him and he turned on his phone, thinking that it wouldn’t be that bad.

Chanyeol checked his Instagram and his jaw dropped open when he saw that he had lost tens of thousands of Instagram followers from the almost one million followers he had.

Chanyeol had even planned to make a one million follower special when he reached that milestone, but it didn’t seem like it would be happening anytime soon now.

There were still likes left on his pictures and videos but fewer than usual, and the comments were now overwhelmingly negative. People called him out as a copycat, as a plagiarizer on his posts. His usual fans who praised him were expressing their disappointment at him and some even left hateful comments telling him to go die for staining CBX’s name particularly.

 

 

Thinking that it couldn’t be worse, Chanyeol checked internet portals to see his name and CBX’s trending throughout the world and even in different countries.

The netizens were sympathetic and supportive of CBX, which Chanyeol was glad for. He had worked alongside the members of CBX for years, and they had become like good friends to him. The last thing he would want is for their careers to be affected by his mistake, so he accepted the full responsibility of his actions.

Sure, Chanyeol was a plagiarizer but he wasn’t evil.

 

Chanyeol was even more devastated when he went to message one of the CBX members on Instagram to apologize, only to find out that they had unfollowed him, presumably because of their manager’s orders to disassociate from Chanyeol to clear their names from the scandal.

Another executive from SM Entertainment also later sent him an email that his indefinite leave would begin that day and that he would not be involved in any activities with the company until a specified time.

Chanyeol knew he wasn’t technically fired from his position as a producer, but that he was technically excommunicated from the company.

 

Chanyeol wept and called his parents and sister that evening, bemoaning his situation to them. They remained supportive of him although they did reprimand him for doing such a thing that jeopardized his career.

 

 

Chanyeol later went on his computer and searched on how to hide from the public and other people, but ended up at a shady site teaching him how to fake his death instead.

Chanyeol went through the property and rental sites, searching for decent places he could rent and live at as long as it was outside from Seoul.

Chanyeol decided that he needed to move away from Seoul for the time being before making a return. In his mind, Chanyeol had already envisioned a spectacular comeback where he produced a full album by himself full of original tracks which would be sung by the most popular artists and then top the charts.

 

Chanyeol clicked on random towns and provinces in the drop-down menu on the rental site before he came across a room for rent offer in the island town of Jindo, which was far south in the Korean peninsula with a population of 18,000.

The house was a bit old and traditional but the interiors were modernly furnished. The house was listed to have a working internet connection, heated baths, and an interior cooling and heating unit. The price was also very affordable and the owner of the house left his phone number on the site and his name as “Do Kyungsoo”.

 

 

Just by the pictures and description alone, there really wasn’t anything special about it but Chanyeol had been attracted because of the surrounding area being described as a quiet, peaceful getaway not far from the sea or the beach.

More research on the Jindo Island and county led him to breathtaking pictures of the scenery, anecdotes by satisfied travelers and blog posts about the hospitality of the place and its people.

That was all he really needed right now; a quiet and calm place for him to clear his mind and gain new inspiration before making his envisioned comeback into the industry.

 

Chanyeol picked up his phone and dialed the phone number on the listing which belonged to Kyungsoo, the owner of the house.

Kyungsoo initially spoke in the South Jeolla provincial dialect before switching to the standard Seoul dialect because that was how Chanyeol spoke to him.

They made further arrangements and phone calls between each other and by the end of the week, Chanyeol’s things were packed in boxes to be moved to Jindo Island while he traveled with just one bag of luggage there.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the week, Chanyeol took a flight from Seoul to Mokpo, where the nearest airport to Jindo Island was. In the only bag he brought with him, Chanyeol only packed his laptop, toiletries, and clothes for a few days until his things would arrive by cargo from Seoul.  

Using the travel guide and instructions Kyungsoo had given him, Chanyeol took a taxi at the airport all the way to Jindo County, less than an hour away from Mokpo.

The taxi dropped off Chanyeol at the county’s taxi stand, not going further than that.

 

 

Chanyeol was still a bit far off from his destination and used the navigation app on his phone to make his way to the fishing port where Kyungsoo said he’d be waiting. Chanyeol didn’t bother to ask anyone around for directions.

Chanyeol still had to walk a bit more to his destination and while lugging around his rucksack on his shoulders, Chanyeol followed the route given to him by his phone as he made his way past the shops and houses.

It was summer and Chanyeol expected it to be hotter down south but it was actually nicely warm and even cloudy.

 

It was already a small town by the looks of it and Chanyeol was supposed to move to the island across the sea from here, which was supposed to be even smaller than this was.

Chanyeol hardly recognized any of the shops here. There were hardly any well-known brand name shops or familiar franchise outlets. Everything was new and still a blur to him, and Chanyeol was already worried that someone would recognize him. No one seemed to, however.

 

 

As Chanyeol was walking to the fishing port following the directions on his phone, he passed by a small road with houses sparsely located along it and lots of trees and free space between them.

“Aww, what a cute dog,” Chanyeol commented, seeing a medium-sized brown dog coming out from a gate at one of the houses.

Chanyeol approached the dog, smiling and wanting to pet it only for the dog to snarl and bark at him.

 

Scared that he’d get bitten or if the dog would bring its friends to attack him, Chanyeol took off and ran for the hills while crying, following down the destination on his phone which was maybe just a few hundred meters away at most.

Chanyeol finally arrived at the fishing port; far enough from the dog that was now out of sight. Chanyeol panted, threw his bag to the ground and sat on the concrete surface dock of the port. He couldn't believe that in all of his life, he would have been chased by a dog that looked so cute and huggable. 

 

 

The fishing port appeared to be small, and the dock didn’t extend out to the sea that much. There were a few small fishing boats docked there and a few fishermen walking around, carrying nets and pails of their catches.

It was windier by the dock and the sea was a grayish-blue, reflecting the cloudy sky above.

 

Chanyeol was about to call Kyungsoo when a shorter man, wearing a black wife beater, exposing his toned biceps emerged from one of the docked fishing boats, waving out to him.

“Hey, you must be Park Chanyeol. I’m Do Kyungsoo,” The man introduced himself climbing over from the rocking boat and onto the dock.

“Yes, that’s me. Uh…nice to meet you,” Chanyeol quickly got back to his feet and bowed to Kyungsoo.

“You don’t have to be so formal with you. You’re older than me actually,” Kyungsoo laughed, shaking Chanyeol’s hand instead.

“-Oh, really?” Chanyeol stood back up straight.

“Yeah, when I asked for a copy of your ID for the rental agreement, I saw your birth date and you’re actually ten years older than me. You look really young though in person,” Kyungsoo chuckled.

“-and well you’re umm…younger than I thought,” Chanyeol tried to make small talk, despite not knowing what to really say.

 

 

Without even being asked to, Kyungsoo picked up Chanyeol’s rucksack and carried it onto his back before pointing to the boat he came from, “This is my boat. We’ll use her to get to the island. Come aboard.”

"A b-boat?" Chanyeol was puzzled, "Can't we get there by land? Isn't there a bridge to the island?"

"It's faster by sea. There's no traffic on the waters," Kyungsoo grinned, "-and besides, I didn't bring my truck out here because I don't have to because I work on a boat."

“So you’re a fisherman, huh?” Chanyeol asked, watching Kyungsoo skip over the gap between the dock and the boat, a bit hesitant to jump and end up falling into the ocean.

“Everyone is a fisherman or a farmer from where I come from,” Kyungsoo replied, putting Chanyeol’s bag down and then holding his hand to help the older man over the gap.

 

Chanyeol skipped onto the boat and landed unstably on his feet, although Kyungsoo quickly caught him by wrapping his toned arms around Chanyeol’s waist.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol muttered and quickly pulled away, embarrassed at his own incapability.

“Well then, put this on and sit tight while I start the boat up. It’ll take 20 minutes at most to get there. Enjoy the ride,” Kyungsoo stated jovially, throwing a life jacket to Chanyeol before entering the wheelhouse of the boat.

 

Chanyeol put the life jacket on like the instruction printed on it, before sitting down on a ledge on the sides of the boat, near the wheelhouse where he saw Kyungsoo starting up the engine and slowly reversing the boat out of the dock.

The boat rocked with the movement and the small waves could be heard lapping up against the side of the boat. The engine was also loud and whirring. 

Chanyeol’s bag was in a corner on the floor of the boat with a heap of nets, pails and fishing equipment.

 

 

When the boat reached the open sea and the dock behind was getting smaller in view, Chanyeol crouched down to the floor especially when the boat jerked up a little when it hit a wave and sprayed him in the face with salty sea water. Chanyeol quickly spat out the sea water that landed in his mouth. It was way saltier than he expected it to be. 

Chanyeol was also afraid of being suddenly thrown off and then landing into the sea because he could not swim and that would have been embarrassing.

 

Chanyeol looked to the wheelhouse to see Kyungsoo steering the boat, looking out at the ocean ahead of him, very calmly and unperturbed. Kyungsoo did this on a daily basis and the sea was his livelihood.

“How are you? Good? Is it your first time out at sea? Do you like it?” Kyungsoo loudly asked him over the sounds of the waves and the engine waving and smiling at him.

“I-I’m fine and yeah i-it’s good,” Chanyeol whimpered, feigning a smile because Kyungsoo had been so nice to him and he didn’t want to disappoint the younger man.

 

Chanyeol curled up on the floor of the boat, whimpering and trying not to throw up from the sea sickness he was experiencing. He hadn’t even gotten there yet but he thought he had already been chased by a dog he tried making friends with and now potentially embarrassing himself on the first time out at sea.

Chanyeol checked his phone but of course, there was no reception out in the middle of the ocean and he too felt stupid for not realizing that sooner. It should have been common sense. Chanyeol put his phone back into his pocket and counted every second until they arrived.

 

 

 

When they arrived at the dock on Jindo Island, the boat slowed down before it came to a stop. It was only then that Chanyeol braved himself enough to sit up and look ahead while Kyungsoo parked the boat at the fishing port. 

The port here on the island was even smaller and had fewer boats than the one on the Jindo County mainland. There appeared to be a few small houses, shops and boathouses lined up near the dock, all of which were still foreign and unfamiliar to him.

 

Once they had made port, Chanyeol checked his phone and was relieved to finally get cellular service, albeit a weaker and slower one. Then, Chanyeol texted to tell his family that he had arrived safely and was now going to go to his new place.

 

“Welcome to Jindo Island,” Kyungsoo greeted Chanyeol as he helped the latter off the boat and onto the dock.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol muttered softly, carrying his rucksack on his back.

Kyungsoo was carrying a pail with fish in it in one hand and a fishing rod over his shoulder as he announced, “My truck is parked just around here. We'll use that to get back to my place.”

“Okay, I don’t know the way here. I’m just going to follow you,” Chanyeol nodded as Kyungsoo led the way.

 

 

Kyungsoo helped load Chanyeol’s rucksack onto the back of the truck, where he then placed his pail and fishing rod down before climbing into the driver’s seat with Chanyeol sitting beside him, and then driving off.

Chanyeol was watching the scenery of rice fields, farmlands, and houses sparse in between, down the small road with only two lanes going either way. Sometimes there was a small shop or two down the road and that was it. There appeared to even be a school building in the middle of the rice fields. That was something certainly very new for Chanyeol.

 

Whenever Kyungsoo passed by another bike or truck going down the other way, he’d slow down his truck, wave and greet the driver before going on his way. It was as if Kyungsoo knew everybody that lived there.

Chanyeol didn’t even know the name of his neighbors in the adjacent apartment units to him even though he’d been staying there for almost four years now.

 

 

“I hope you like it here. I know it’s small and nothing compared to Seoul but I do hope you’ll enjoy your time here,” Kyungsoo expressed, driving with one arm resting on the truck’s window which had been wound down.

“I am looking forward to my new life here too even if it’s just for a few months,” Chanyeol responded.

“Great,” Kyungsoo beamed from behind the wheel of the truck, “I do admit that there’s not much to do around here and most of the shops close at six in the evening, so you’ll find that you actually have more time to work on things while you’re here.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded in affirmation, going quiet for a while before asking Kyungsoo, “-you don’t really know who I am, do you?”

“I just know your name, age and that you work as a songwriter in some big agency in Seoul. Why?” Kyungsoo glanced over at Chanyeol in the passenger seat.

“Well, I was embroiled in some public scandal and it was a big thing on the internet. I thought that you might have heard of it and I was wondering why you aren’t asking me about it.” Chanyeol confessed.

“Sorry, I don’t know anything about that. My younger brother might though. I don’t really go on the internet or watch television too. I don’t have a smartphone either because I still use a landline. I only looked up your credit background which is good and that you have a good reputation as a renter too. You don’t have any criminal records too and that’s all I care for,” Kyungsoo informed, “-besides, you came all the way here to leave all that behind, didn’t you? This could be a good start for you.”

“You’re right,” Chanyeol agreed, “I’m really looking forward to it now.”

 

 

 

Kyungsoo later pulled up on a small road in front of a house with wooden fences and no gate, just an opening in the fence to come through. There were a few surrounding houses with different builds but almost similar gates near the houses, whom Chanyeol assumed to be Kyungsoo’s neighbors. It was as if the people here didn't really care to keep people out of their houses, or the crime rate was basically non-existent for them to trust each other that much. 

Everywhere else around the four or five houses close to Kyungsoo's was rice fields, forests, and farmland instead.

The house was small, single-floored and if Chanyeol were to describe it, he’d say it looked rather rectangular.

 

Kyungsoo unlocked the front door and slid it open, which opened directly into the living room which looked exactly like in the pictures online.

There were no couches or a sofa. There were just a few pillows to sit on with an old television set, and a low coffee table in front of it.

 

 

Kyungsoo showed Chanyeol to his room. It was just as advertised with a single bed, a desk, a shelf and a cupboard in the corner. Everything was plain but neatly arranged and seemed clean enough.

There was a phone line and no wired internet connection, but there was Wi-Fi available in the house, which Kyungsoo said to be rather bad at times but still bearable. Although Kyungsoo didn’t use the internet to know that, he was relaying the information from his younger brother who often came over to his place.

Kyungsoo was really honest about the place and he later informed Chanyeol that the bigger ship that sent supplies to the island would usually arrive in the evening, which was when he could expect the rest of his things to arrive.

 

 

It got dark faster on the island and Chanyeol’s things arrived in several boxes on a truck shortly after the sun had gone down.

Kyungsoo also seemed to know the middle-aged man driving the truck, and they stopped to talk at the side of the road for a while before helping Chanyeol carry the boxes inside.

Chanyeol was also introduced to this man who talked to him about the island’s best spots and also wished him a good time here before leaving. Kyungsoo waved him down the road until his truck was out of sight.

 

Kyungsoo offered to help carry Chanyeol’s boxes into his room so he could unpack there. Just as Chanyeol was carrying one moving box into his room from the living room, a teenager in a high school uniform unlocked the front door and slid it open, banging the door in its frame.

“I hate everyone,” This teenager whined, throwing his school bag onto the floor, ignoring Chanyeol and then storming off into Kyungsoo’s room.

“Uh…hi,” Chanyeol tried to greet and smile this teenager, only for him to just walk past Chanyeol and then disappear as fast as he could.

 

 

Kyungsoo had just finished putting a box in Chanyeol’s room when he heard it and stuck his head out of the doorway.

“Oh, that’s my younger brother, Jongin. Don’t mind him. He’s always like that but he’s actually a nice person once you get to know him,” Kyungsoo clarified.

“I see,” Chanyeol tried to understand, “I wasn’t sure who he was when he came in and he seemed to have the key to the place too.”

“I get it often,” Kyungsoo replied, leaving the room to pick up another box “We don’t look alike at all because we’re actually step-brothers. My widower dad married his divorced mom about five years ago but it doesn’t matter even if we aren’t related by blood. He’s still my family.”

“I didn’t know he lived with you because it said you were the only resident of the house on the website,” Chanyeol entered his room, setting down a box on his bed as Kyungsoo was carrying another back into the room.

“He doesn’t live with me actually,” Kyungsoo shook his head, waving his hand off, “He’s only sixteen so he lives with our parents but he comes here often. They probably scolded him over something which is why he’s here. He does that often so I gave him the key to the place.”

Chanyeol chuckled, “I don’t have a younger sibling so I wouldn’t know.”

“He’ll grow up eventually,” Kyungsoo hoped, putting the last box down in Chanyeol’s room.

“Do you have a knife, scissors or something I can use to open the boxes with?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“Here, I got it,” Jongin appeared at the door with a penknife he slid open in his hand, turning to Chanyeol, deadpanning, “Kyungsoo hyung told me someone from Seoul was coming to live with him. I didn’t expect it to be LOEY, who had come out this far just to hide from the public scandal.”

Chanyeol froze where he stood, just about to thank Jongin and introduce himself to the teenager until he was called out by his pseudonym.

“This is sharp. Just give that to me,” Kyungsoo took the penknife from Jongin, instructing, “Go change and cook the rice for three people. We’re about to have dinner.”

“Oh, you know who I am,” Chanyeol timidly blubbered, forcing a smile that came out rather awkward.

“Of course I would know who you are. I go on Naver every day and I follow SM Entertainment’s groups but I can’t say I’m a big fan of them. I only follow idols for their choreography,” Jongin made it known, “I don’t really care about the scandal thing though but if you were a choreographer who stole other people’s dance moves, I would have been mad at you but I couldn’t care less.”

“Here, throw this away,” Kyungsoo interjected, handing Jongin rolls of used masking tape that had been ripped off the boxes.

“If I were you, I’d be working on something original now and get back at the people who only knew how to bash you. I’ve heard your older work which you didn’t steal off of anyone and I think you have what it takes,” Jongin said before leaving to dispose of the tape, “Good luck.”

“I’m sorry if he’s being rude, he’s a bit like that.” Kyungsoo apologized on behalf of Jongin.

“It’s nothing,” Chanyeol brushed it off, partly relieved and partly anxious

 

 

Chanyeol was actually a bit afraid of Jongin at first when it was discovered that the teenager knew who he actually was, and of the plagiarism scandal surrounding Chanyeol.

But his fear was later disapproved at dinner when he ate with the two brothers, sitting on pillows on the floor around the low table in the living room.

 

The food was good, the fish was fresh and the rice was locally grown and harvested from the island itself. Chanyeol had never experienced such a meal in all of his life and the food alone was enough to make him feel touched even on his first day there.

Kyungsoo and Jongin were nice and very hospitable to him too, constantly asking Chanyeol if he liked the food, if he was okay with it or if he wanted something else to eat instead because they were afraid he was used to eating differently. No one else, not even Jongin, brought up the plagiarizing scandal too.

Chanyeol really felt like he could start over on a new page now that he was here.

 

 

Later that night, Chanyeol cried a little in his new bed, feeling very moved by the kindness he was shown even after he had expected the whole world to hate him after what he had done.

Maybe it was just him who imagined things being worse than it really was. Coming to Jindo Island was probably the right decision as it stands so far.

 

Before going to bed, Chanyeol checked his Instagram and could not resist looking up his name on web portals too.

The gossip had died down so far and the public had moved on to the next big thing, although there were still a few negative things about him.

 

 

Chanyeol hadn’t posted anything on Instagram in over a week, disabled the comments and removed the videos and snippets of songs he had plagiarized from

Chanyeol had even considered deactivating his account, but to him, that was still a big decision to make and he didn’t want to cause another buzz when they found out about it and decided to investigate why.

Chanyeol decided against it though and left it as it is. He would now focus solely on producing new original songs and show the world that he would become a better man at the same time too.

 

 


	2. Of Finding Ideas and Fishing

 

On the second day since Chanyeol arrived on Jindo Island yesterday afternoon, he already had all of his things unpacked and arranged, thanks to Kyungsoo and even Jongin helping him out even when they didn’t have to.

Chanyeol hadn’t brought a lot of things with him because he wasn’t planning on actually permanently moving to the island. It was just a temporary stay for three months. It was early July now and Chanyeol’s rental agreement would end on the last day of October.

Until then, Chanyeol needed to produce at least one original song which would sweep the charts and stir the nation, in a good way of course. It needed to be good enough that Chanyeol would redeem himself in the eyes of the public, artists and his label mates.

 

 

Chanyeol had woken up a bit late that morning on his second day on Jindo Island. He hadn’t set an alarm and all the traveling and moving things around yesterday had tired him out.

Chanyeol didn’t sleep that well last night because of how tired he was, or maybe because he was still trying to get adjusted to the new place. Whatever it was, it was something to do with him and not the place itself.

 

By the time Chanyeol got up, the sun was already shining outside and peeking through the semi-opaque curtains covering his windows. The time on his phone showed that he was more than an hour late from his usual waking time.

It was already warm and Chanyeol got out of bed to reach for the remote on the wall, to turn on the air-conditioning, sighing in relief when the room finally started to cool down.

 

 

Chanyeol crept back into bed, took out his phone and spent almost an hour scrolling through social media and news sites until he was satisfied at being caught up with everything.

The media had moved on fast from his plagiarizing scandal because they were now more focused on the person Chanyeol plagiarized from and had yet to make an apology to.

This young aspiring songwriter had blown up from all the attention Chanyeol had given by plagiarizing him, and was now being offered to write and produce tracks for South Korea’s top idol groups and solo artists.

While Chanyeol wasn’t brave enough yet to make a formal apology to this songwriter, Chanyeol was at least glad that it had somehow paid off for him in a good way.

 

 

On the wooden desk in the small room, he was now renting, Chanyeol had set up a makeshift home studio equipment he brought all the way from Seoul, such as studio monitors, microphones, an audio interface, a keyboard, a guitar and his custom built laptop with the studio software.

There was actually not enough space for the keyboard so it was temporarily stored under the bed, and would only be brought when he needed it.

The equipment Chanyeol brought with him had been the bulk of all the things he brought to Jindo.

Kyungsoo and Jongin had never seen most of the recording equipment and had gone “ooh and “aah” when they were helping Chanyeol unpack and setting it up.

 

 

 

Before Chanyeol started recording that morning, he left his room for a while to tell Kyungsoo or Jongin to keep down their noise while he was working. Chanyeol didn’t want to risk any of the background noise being caught on the recording and the island’s quiet nature had also been one of the reasons which attracted him there.

But when Chanyeol entered the living room just outside of his room, it was empty and there was no one home.

It was a weekday so Chanyeol assumed that Jongin was at school because the summer holidays would only start in late July.

 

Chanyeol slid open the front door and popped his head outside, looking out through the wooden fence to see that Kyungsoo’s truck was not parked there at the side of the road. There was a bicycle though, leaned against the wall outside just near the door. Seeing that, Chanyeol just assumed that Kyungsoo had gone out to sea or something.

The sun was shining bright and warm that day, without much cloud cover. It was hot outside and Chanyeol was able to feel that by just putting his head out from the door.

 

Shrugging to himself, Chanyeol slid the door back shut and locked it before padding off back to his room and to begin recording.

Just as Chanyeol was about to enter back into his room, he finally noticed the post-its that had been posted on his door. Written in marker on the post-its, it appeared to be a note telling him that there was rice in the rice cooker and dishes in the fridge he could reheat and eat if he was hungry.

Chanyeol wasn't hungry yet but he did think that it was rather thoughtful and considerate of Kyungsoo to do that for him. 

 

 

 

Back in his room, Chanyeol pulled out the keyboard and placed it on his bed, sitting in front of it with his legs crossed as he attempted to find a key, chord, or a tempo he could begin working with. Chanyeol didn’t only work with his keyboard. He also fished out his guitar pick from his wallet so he could attempt composing on his guitar too.

While at it, Chanyeol would scribble the notes down on his sheets, humming the notes to himself to see how it would sound like.

Chanyeol didn’t really have anything in mind or in particular that he wanted to compose. He didn’t even have a general idea or theme of how the song should be. He only cared about making the song popular, well received and even fantasized a perfect-all-kill if given to the right artists.

 

 

Chanyeol spent hours, hunching over the keyboard and occasionally getting up to pace around his room as he stormed his brain for any ideas, anything to help him compose something.

It proved to be harder than he expected, even though he had done this countless number of times before. Every formula and method seemed to have been tried and tested before, and Chanyeol wanted to show that he could create something original and fresh this time.

 

It appeared as if the writer’s block that was plaguing him in Seoul and led to him plagiarizing, was still affecting him even here.

Chanyeol couldn’t say that he didn’t expect a sudden flood of inspiration and ideas to suddenly come to him when he set foot on the island. It was wishful thinking and maybe a bit delusional but Chanyeol did realize now that it wasn’t going to just come out of anywhere, even in a new place he had hoped would help him.

Lee Soo Man’s scolding still rang through his head. Like the founder of SM Entertainment had said, Chanyeol was a veteran in this industry and had almost two decades of experience in composing music.

He should surely know this by now but since the scandal erupted, Chanyeol felt like he didn’t really know anything about his trade anymore.

 

 

 

Unable to come up with anything he was even remotely satisfied with; Chanyeol moped around, lying down on his bed while wasting his time by watching random funny videos and comedy skits on YouTube.

Chanyeol also ended up clicking on the videos that the YouTube algorithm recommended to him. Some of the videos were music related and Chanyeol soon found himself mentally trying to figure out which chord progression and keys were used in the songs.

In the midst of it, Chanyeol even tried to figure out how to make a full song from snippets of different parts of the song he was listening to.

 

When Chanyeol realized what he was doing was blatant plagiarizing and copying, he jolted up into a sitting position from his former lying position and quickly closed the video he was watching.

Chanyeol whined to himself, lightly punching a pillow out of frustration.

He hated himself for even thinking of it. It wasn’t supposed to get this bad, up to a point where copying from others become like an almost natural thing to do when faced with such a predicament.

Chanyeol hadn’t always felt like this. Ideas and new inspiration used to come easily and naturally to him. Right now, even thinking of something new he could be satisfied with, was proven to be a difficult task for him.

 

 

Chanyeol immediately got up from bed when he remembered where he was now, feeling a bit more eager and excited than he had been earlier on. He was on Jindo Island now, the place he had moved to in hopes that it would help inspire him.

Everywhere around the island were a new sight and a new place for him, just waiting to be discovered, and Chanyeol realized that he couldn’t achieve all of that just by sitting in his room all day.

He realized he needed to do something new and different if he was going to create something original. He needed new methods and he had to discard the old ways.

 

Chanyeol decided to put this island to use, by exploring it as much as he could and going around finding anything that would help inspire him.

Chanyeol changed and dressed into a light-colored t-shirt and a pair of jeans before he left the house, slipping his phone and wallet into the pockets and not forgetting the house keys too.

 

 

Borrowing the bicycle leaned up against the wall outside the house which he assumed to belong to Kyungsoo, Chanyeol cycled all the way to the port, where most of the shops and people on the island were.

From when he arrived yesterday, Chanyeol already remembered the way to the port from the house because it was just a straight road with no turns all the way there.

 

It was cloudier in the afternoon so it wasn’t too hot or sunny for Chanyeol to be about cycling down the small road flanked by acres upon acres of rice fields and farmlands. There was also a pleasant breeze that constantly blew in his face as he cycled down the straight and flat road.

Jindo Island itself was actually quite big when compared to the number of people living there. By vehicle and traveling at average speed, it would take over two hours from one end of the island to the other.

The houses and buildings that were far from each other, interspersed with many farmlands and open space in between only made the island seemed bigger and even more isolated.

 

 

 

Chanyeol eventually made his way down the port by the sea, where the heart of Jindo Island was. This was where the markets, shops, businesses, district offices, and lodgings were at.

Even though it was only his second time there, it wasn’t really hard to get around at all because of how small and straightforward the place was. Signboards sure did help a lot too of course.

 

Chanyeol cycled all the day down to the fishing port where the boats were docked in the harbor, with the fishermen seen on the boats or around the docks up to their own business. Not far from the fishing port was a fish market, where the fish was sold, freshly caught from the sea.

There was quite a crowd of people near the fish market and along the dock by the sea, who appeared to look like tourists from a tour group.

Afraid that someone might recognize him, Chanyeol steered away from the crowd and cycled down towards the fishing harbor instead.

 

 

Down at the fishing harbor, Chanyeol saw some of the fishermen carrying around large cooler boxes with freshly caught fishes that had been put on ice. Some of them were on their boats, scrubbing the decks and rolling up nets.

Chanyeol thought that as someone new on the island, his presence would be odd to the residents of the island. But no one seemed to mind him and carried about their work. 

 

Chanyeol looked around the harbor, trying to see if he could find Kyungsoo’s boat there among the others. Chanyeol wasn’t sure if Kyungsoo was there, or if he was out at sea but Chanyeol thought he might as well look while he was there.

Chanyeol remembered how Kyungsoo’s boat looked like although he didn’t really know how to differentiate it from the other fishing vessels there.

To him, they were all boats which floated on water.

Kyungsoo’s boat was actually a purse seiner commercial fishing vessel used for fishing in the open sea within the 200-mile from shore fishing limit. Any further than that, Kyungsoo would require a larger fishing vessel and a different type of fishing license which was more costly and couldn’t be operated alone.  

 

 

Slowly cycling down the concrete-surfaced harbor on the dock that extended out to sea, passing by the other fishing vessels, Chanyeol was pleasantly delighted to see Kyungsoo’s boat docked at the harbor, second-to-last down the line of docked ships.

Sure enough, Kyungsoo was there too, wearing a different colored wife beater that day, bending down on the deck of his boat as he was inspecting the heap on the deck that was his fishing net.

 

“Hey! Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol called out from the harbor, still on and straddling the bike he was riding.

Kyungsoo looked up when his name was called. He was sweating lightly and looked a bit flushed from the sun. He was probably used to this, after all, since he appeared to be rather tanned too.

“Oh, hi, Chanyeol. Were you sightseeing?” Kyungsoo smiled wide, waving back to Chanyeol as he wiped the trails of sweat on his jaw.

“Yeah, kinda,” Chanyeol answered, dismounting from the bike and walking towards the edge of the dock, nearer to where Kyungsoo was on the boat.

“Seen any places you like so far? How was it?” Kyungsoo asked, looking up at Chanyeol from the boat which occasionally rocked with the waves. Kyungsoo’s fishing boat was big and tall enough to come up to a similar level with the dock.

“I saw the market and some tourists there and uh…the shops too. But I didn’t go to any of them. I came here straight away because I thought I might as well look for you,” Chanyeol replied, “Aren’t you going out to sea to catch some fish?”

“I wanted to but as I was preparing to go out to sea this morning, I realized that I tore some of my nets so I need to fix that first,” Kyungsoo informed, climbing out of the boat and coming onto the dock to meet Chanyeol there.

“Oh, so you can’t go out to work today?” Chanyeol questioned.

“It’s something like that,” Kyungsoo sighed, wiping the sweat away from his forehead this time, “How about you? Did you get any of your music work thing done too?”

“I wanted to,” Chanyeol stated, as a cool wind blew in from the sea and past them as it traveled onto land, “But I wasn’t able to come up with any ideas so I went out to look for some inspirations.”

“Hmm…,” Kyungsoo hummed, folding his arms over his chest as he thought of something, before speaking again, “So you can’t make new music because you currently don’t have any inspiration? That sounds like the situation I am in now. Do you know what I do when I can’t go out to sea because of my nets?”

“No,” Chanyeol shook his head, “What do you do?”

“I go rod fishing by the pier,” Kyungsoo grinned, excitedly, “I don’t catch much fish like that but it gives me something to do at least.”

“That’s good for you, I guess,” Chanyeol scrunched his nose, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to understand something completely unrelatable to him.

“Let’s go rod fishing together at the pier then! It’ll give you something to do in the meantime,” Kyungsoo suggested with a jovial tone, climbing back onto his boat to gather the fishing rods, lines, hooks, and pails.

“I don’t see how that’s going to help me though and besides, I don’t know how to fish,” Chanyeol doubted as Kyungsoo handed him the fishing equipment from the boat to carry.

“Oh, don’t worry. That means you just have to learn how to then. It's easy too,” Kyungsoo optimistically replied, climbing back out of the boat.

“I really don’t want to,” Chanyeol refused, a bit hesitant and maybe even scared at something unknown to him such as fishing.

“You’ll be fine,” Kyungsoo ignored Chanyeol’s refusal, showing him the way down to the pier.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo brought Chanyeol down to the pier, not far and just a few minutes walk from the fishing harbor. The concrete pier was at the end of the rows of shops and businesses that were lined up along the dock.

The pier seemed to extend out to sea as much as the fishing harbor did too, but unlike on the harbor, the pier had no boats docked up there. The pier was more for recreational purposes as Chanyeol could see some people strolling down there with a few dogs.

 

Kyungsoo led Chanyeol all the way to the end of the pier, where he then set down the pail and the toolbox containing the baits and hooks. Kyungsoo sat on the edge of the pier, dangling his feet over the pier and above the sea, as he set up his fishing rod and the bait on the hook.

Chanyeol still remained standing, looking back at the people and the dogs strolling further down the pier from them.

The sea ahead of them was calm and a glistening grayish-blue that day too because of the clouds above. Even if it was cooler there with a gentle breeze constantly blowing out from the sea, Chanyeol still didn’t find the appeal of fishing there with Kyungsoo.

Surely, he and Kyungsoo were two very different people because Chanyeol didn’t understand how this was going to help him at all.

 

 

After Kyungsoo finished preparing a rod ready for fishing, he stood up again and cast the line into the ocean before handing that particular rod to Chanyeol.

“Here, yours is all set up. Try and be still when you hold it and don’t move around too much or else the fishes will run away. You should sit so you don’t get tired because it might take a while,” Kyungsoo advised.

“Uh…thanks?” Chanyeol wasn’t sure what to say. He still didn’t want to go fishing but it seemed too late or even futile to turn Kyungsoo down now. Nonetheless, Chanyeol accepted the fishing rod that was handed to him as he sat down on the edge of the pier like Kyungsoo had earlier on, dangling his feet above the sea beneath them.

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo set up his own rod and after casting the line into the sea, he too joined Chanyeol by sitting down on the pier beside the music producer.

 

Chanyeol had no idea and was certainly clueless about what to do. This was his first time holding a fishing rod too, actually. He was born and raised in the city like his parents were, and none of their activities ever included fishing. They all bought their fish from a wet market, and certainly never had to catch it either. 

All he could do was feel puzzled as he firmly held the rod between his two hands, stiff and not even daring to move a muscle because of what Kyungsoo had told him. He didn’t even know if it was a bad thing or not if the fishes were to run away.

 

 

Kyungsoo hummed a soft tune to himself as they were fishing, not even blinking much as he looked out towards the sea over the pier.

Chanyeol was quiet and worried about several things like dropping and losing the fishing rod. Chanyeol wasn't sure how much a fishing rod cost but one of the last things he would ever do was lose a fisherman's rod.

 

It didn’t take him long too until he got bored and started to wonder how people like Kyungsoo could do this for hours and hours.

Chanyeol looked over his shoulder to see the people walking and strolling down the pier with similar looking dogs, playing around and just being carefree. Just then, one of the dogs barked playfully at one of the people down the pier.

 

 

“Why are there so many dogs here? They don’t look like strays to me either,” Chanyeol asked, keeping his voice low.

“This is Jindo Island,” Kyungsoo responded, making it sound like it was very obvious and something Chanyeol should have known, “We’re famous for the Jindo breed dogs. This is where they originated from and the government actually passed laws for conservation and to protect the dogs here, which is why you can’t bring other live animals onto the island unless they’re vaccinated and medically cleared to. They don’t want the dogs getting sick. They’re really good hunters and loyal too. Almost everyone here has one.”

“You don’t have a dog though,” Chanyeol uttered, turning to look from over his shoulder and towards Kyungsoo sitting at his left.

“I don’t but my parents and Jongin do take care of one in their home,” Kyungsoo informed, “My place is too small and I’m always away from home to take care of one. Surely, a dog should deserve to be in a more suitable place with people to spend time with it.”

“Why don’t you live with your family anyway? You’re not married and you don’t have children either. I thought people from small places like these all live with their family even when they are older,” Chanyeol assumed.

“Ah,” Kyungsoo bobbed his head slightly up and down, “The house you live in now belonged to my late mother’s side of the family. After her parents died, she turned the house into a homestay program for tourists. When she passed away too when I was in high school, it was left empty. When I got back from the army after my conscription three years ago, I decided to live there instead.”

“I see,” Chanyeol understood, “So you went to the army right after high school?”

“Yup, I wanted to get it done with soon so I went straight away,” Kyungsoo affirmed, nodding his head again.

Chanyeol chuckled, “I waited until one year before I turned the maximum age to enlist. I just finished about three years ago too. I was put into the army’s marching band and they made me compose music while I was there too so at least I could do something I liked too.”

“Oh, it sounds like we were in the army at the same time," Kyungsoo then asked, "Where were you posted at? I was in Goyang myself."

“I was at Nowon, near the academy. It’s still technically in Seoul actually so yeah, I never really left the city,” Chanyeol summed it up, adding; “Goyang isn’t that far from Seoul either actually.”

“That is true,” Kyungsoo recalled, “While I was in the military, we’d go down to Seoul every other weekend and the subway ride was only maybe half an hour at most.”

“So you’ve actually been to Seoul,” Chanyeol discovered, looking back at the sea and still firmly holding the rod in his hands, “As someone who came from a small place like this, what do you think of it?”

“You mean, Seoul? I think it’s big and confusing. There are so many places and all these streets where I got lost at quite a lot. The roads are really big and people don’t really smile or talk to each other that much because they all look busy from what I saw,” Kyungsoo answered Chanyeol’s question, “-but I like that you can find almost everything you want there without having to go far. Oh, and the shops open until late at night so that’s good too.

“That does sound like Seoul indeed,” Chanyeol had to agree too before asking again, “Did you ever thought of moving away from here to Seoul?”

“Why would I?” Kyungsoo was baffled, “I love this place and I’m happy here.”

“I meant,” Chanyeol rephrased his question, “Don’t you want to do other things too? As you said, everyone is a farmer or a fisherman here. Didn’t you have other dreams or ambitions while you were growing up other than becoming a fisherman? Maybe you wanted to become a doctor, a policeman or something like that?”

“No, not at all,” Kyungsoo responded, “I grew up watching my father go out to sea every day until I grew old enough to go with him and from a young age, I have decided that this is what I wanted to do.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol could only say, a bit taken aback to find out that unpretentious people like Kyungsoo really did exist on this earth.

“What about you too? What are your dreams? Did you always want to make music?” Kyungsoo cheerfully asked Chanyeol.

“Always, for as long as I could remember too,” Chanyeol declared, “-but now that I’m already doing what I love, I want to be better, more famous, well known and liked in the music industry. I want to be the best among everyone else.”

“That sounds good for you. I do hope that you’ll be able to do it but from what Jongin told me, he said that you’re already pretty famous and well known actually.” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“Of course,” Chanyeol was proud to hear a good opinion on him, “-but I can’t help but want more. You say you’re happy as a fisherman too. Haven’t you felt like you wanted to be better like maybe own your own fishing empire in the future?’

“My only big dream is the day we reconcile with North Korea because I’ve always wanted to go fishing in the Yellow Sea. We’re not allowed to do that because it’s dangerous,” Kyungsoo disclosed, brightening up, “Oh boy, I can already imagine how much fun it will be when I get to fish in those waters.”

 

 

Chanyeol sighed and abandoned the thought that maybe Kyungsoo wasn’t really as guileless as it seemed because Chanyeol was still having a hard time believing that people like Kyungsoo really did exist. But Kyungsoo really turned out to be a person just like that.

Just then, Chanyeol’s rod began to shake and the line stretched out as he felt a weight tugging on the end of it.

Chanyeol grabbed the rod even harder, trying to hold it steady as he bewilderedly turned his head to Kyungsoo, at a loss with what to do.

 

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol called out.

“You got something! Hold tight, don’t let it go,” Kyungsoo gushed, excited, moving his feet up onto the pier as he put his rod down. “It’s a flatfish!” Kyungsoo announced, squatting on the pier beside Chanyeol, helping to reel in the catch while Chanyeol was attempting to keep the rod steady.

Chanyeol smiled wide and was excited as a grade schooler on their first field trip when he saw Kyungsoo reel in a decently sized fish.

“What do we do with the fish?” Chanyeol asked, exuberantly.

“If it’s from fishing with a rod by the pier, I don’t sell it. So it looks like we have our dinner tonight,” Kyungsoo held up the line in one hand where the fish was still hanging by the hook, then instructing Chanyeol, “-put it in the pail.”

 

 

Chanyeol was trying to learn how to take the fish off the hook when he accidentally cut his thumb on the sharp metal end of the hook, dropping the fish onto the pier as it flopped around.

“Ah, shit. I’m sorry,” Chanyeol winced, as the immediate reaction caused him to pull away. Chanyeol was hissing from the stinging pain as he wrapped the hem of his shirt around his thumb.

“It’s good, it’s good,” Kyungsoo repeated, chasing after the fish and managing to catch it before it fell back into the sea, before putting it into the pail. Kyungsoo then walked up to Chanyeol, and held the older man’s hand up to see the injury, “It doesn’t look bad but we need to be careful of infections because it was a fishing hook. I’ll bring you to the clinic just around the corner.”

Chanyeol nodded, face all scrunched up, “Alright, just take me there.”

 

 

 

At the clinic, Kyungsoo also appeared to know the nurses and staff working there to be on friendly terms with them.

The doctor on the duty at the time was one of the island’s twenty doctors, whereby most of them were assigned to the island’s only and small hospital. Anything more major than childbirth had to be referred to a larger hospital on the mainland.

There, Chanyeol also got to meet more of the townsfolk and was glad to know that none of them recognized him.

Although, when Chanyeol was asked about his job and had said he was a music producer, a young nurse had gone on her phone to look him up. Before she could even finish typing his name in the search bar, Chanyeol had already dashed out of the door since his thumb was already cleaned, treated and bandaged up by then.

 

Kyungsoo later caught up with Chanyeol, who was squatting to the ground beside his truck, hiding and wanting to be taken back home already.

Kyungsoo was amused to see that and unlocked his truck for Chanyeol to sit inside; while he stored the fishing equipment back onto the boat and then loaded the bicycle and fish pail onto the back of the truck.

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon as it was beginning to get dark, after Kyungsoo had finished cooking the fish for dinner in a steamed dish recipe, he excused himself to go out and pick Jongin from school so they could have dinner together.

Jongin had told Kyungsoo earlier on that he was planning on staying over for the next few days because their parents were still mad at him for something he didn’t want to talk about.

 

Chanyeol sat in the living room, on his phone while the television was left turned on to keep him company while he waited for the brothers to return.

When Chanyeol heard Kyungsoo’s truck pull up in front of the house, Chanyeol quickly unlocked the sliding front door for them.

 

“Hey, Jongin. Can you get to school by yourself tomorrow because I don’t think I’ll be able to pick you up?” Kyungsoo said the moment they arrived at the doorway and were taking off their shoes.

“Fine, I’ll just take my bike then,” Jongin rolled his eyes, putting his shoes on the rack and then greeting Chanyeol as he entered the house.

Now, Chanyeol knew that the bike he borrowed that day actually belonged to Jongin, and not Kyungsoo. Chanyeol didn’t tell Jongin about him lending it without permission though, not knowing how Jongin might react. If Chanyeol knew, he would have asked certainly. 

“Go get changed quickly so we can eat and you can do your homework,” Kyungsoo instructed, sliding the door back shut.

“It’s summer holiday in one week! Homework can wait!” Jongin yelled back, entering Kyungsoo’s room since they shared rooms while he was sleeping over.

 

 

 

Later that night, after it was bedtime for Chanyeol, he was still tossing and turning around in bed unable to sleep when he was hit by a sudden realization that he hadn’t made any progress that day or even came up with anything new to work with.

Chanyeol believed that all he did that day was arriving at dead ends, lazing around and then ending up fishing somehow. He also believed that he needed to produce his new original song quick before he was no longer relevant in such a fast-paced world, where people quickly moved on from one thing to the other.

Chanyeol jolted upright on his bed in cold sweat, throwing the blankets off and quickly getting up at the horror of the sudden realization that yet another day had gone by just like that.

 

Chanyeol was restless, unsettled and a bit panicking too when he stormed out of his room, hoping to get some fresh air and clear his mind.

In a fit of anxiety, Chanyeol marched out of his room and was about go outside when he saw Kyungsoo sitting on the doorway, with the door slid open and the moon shining brightly outside in the clear sky.

 

 

Kyungsoo was just eating sunflower seeds from a small paper bag, leaning his head against the frame of the sliding door as he sang to himself in between his chews.

Chanyeol recognized this song; in fact, everyone in the country would know this particular song. The song was “No Matter What” by Park Sang Cheol, a very famous and culturally significant trot song.

That wasn’t what caught Chanyeol’s attention the most. It was the fact that Kyungsoo seemed to be singing this song while eating sunflower songs in his own rendition.

And Kyungsoo’s rendition of this popular song, in particular, was something new, fresh and unheard of to Chanyeol, at a point in his life when he felt that every method had been used and done. In fact, Chanyeol thought that Kyungsoo was doing a rather good job at it too.

 

Kyungsoo heard and noticed Chanyeol standing behind him and greeted the older man, “Hey, you’re still up.” Kyungsoo then offered some sunflower seeds to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol ignored the offer and quickly jumped straight to the point, “You can sing!”

“Everyone can sing though,” Kyungsoo didn’t quite understand why Chanyeol was bringing that fact up.

“Yes I know that, but just because they can, doesn’t mean they can do it well. You don't know how many bad singers I've come across in my career,” Chanyeol corrected, going back onto the topic, “That song just now you were singing was in a different style than the original one or any that I’ve ever heard. Where did you learn to sing the song like that?”

“Nowhere,” Kyungsoo shrugged his shoulders, “I watched in on TV a long time ago when I was in elementary school and I just sing it the way with how I remember it to be.”

“That’s interesting,” Chanyeol noted, biting a nail on his finger as he felt like he was coming up with something, except that he never ended up coming with anything new.

“Uh…I don’t know much about this music thing but I’m pretty sure the way I sing it isn’t the right way it’s supposed to be,” Kyungsoo tried to warn Chanyeol.

“It’s fine, that’s basically the whole point of it. I need something new, something different,” Chanyeol expressed, going back to his room to write something down before he forgot about it.

“Good luck then,” Kyungsoo piped out as Chanyeol returned to his room.

 

Kyungsoo turned back to face outside again as he leaned his head against the door and rummaged through the paper bag for more sunflower seeds, continuing to sing to himself the song he knew that he had been wrongly singing for years.

Kyungsoo didn't quite understand Chanyeol either but he didn't mind that. 

 

 


	3. Of Not Knowing How to Swim

 

Chanyeol arrived at Jindo Island on a Monday. He ended up spending the next day, a Tuesday, fishing with Kyungsoo at the pier.

Now it was Friday, and Chanyeol had been mostly holed up in his room since Wednesday, in an effort to attempt to produce at least one new song.

 

Chanyeol had gone through files of his drafts and old unused samples that never made the cut to be put into a song. Chanyeol was trying to see if he could work on those and use it to make a full song, but he wasn’t too enthusiastic either when he listened again to his old samples and snippets.

Chanyeol wanted something new and something fresh so actually going back to refer to his old work seemed counterproductive to his goal.

Looking back at it, Chanyeol also realized how his artistic style and preferences had changed so much since then. He was certainly not the same producer as he was from a few years ago, either for the good or bad reasons.

 

 

 

Abandoning his plan to hopefully work on an old sample, Chanyeol worked from scratch to create something original, from the moment he woke up in the morning until the time he was ready to go to bed at night.

Chanyeol only left his room to eat, grab a drink and use the toilet. In the past five days he had been there on Jindo Island, Chanyeol probably only showered three times the most. He had been too busy to even bother to take the time to shower.

 

In the past five days, Chanyeol hadn’t seen much of Kyungsoo and Jongin either. When he woke up in the morning, Kyungsoo had gone out to the dock and Jongin was at school already. He would not see the two brothers for the rest of the day until evening time when they invited him to have dinner with them.

After dinner, Chanyeol would quickly excuse himself to go back to his room and resume working straight away. Since that Tuesday where they went fishing together at the pier, Chanyeol hadn’t had the opportunity to sit down and have a proper conversation with Kyungsoo.

 

 

 

On that same Friday morning, Chanyeol had fallen back into his usual routine of waking up at eight-thirty in the morning after waking up a bit later than usual during the first few days he was at his new home.

The first thing Chanyeol thought of that morning while he was laying in bed, was of this catchy tune he had somehow come up with and was trying to hum, so he wouldn’t forget it.

Chanyeol grabbed his phone on the pillow beside him and recorded himself humming the tune before religiously checking his Instagram. Chanyeol actually felt impatient and when he grabbed his phone to record the tune, all he wanted was to get it over with because he couldn’t wait to check his Instagram notifications.

 

 

For now, he had stopped posting anything on Instagram although he had re-enabled comments on his posts the night before. Before he went to bed the previous night, Chanyeol had been eager to see what kind of comments he would get when he checked Instagram that morning.

Chanyeol kind of expected it and he couldn’t say he was disappointed either when he found some people commenting on his posts calling him a plagiarizer.

 

Although some people commented about being happy that he had re-enabled comments and still supported him with nice words, Chanyeol’s mood was quickly dampened and he found it hard to focus on the positivity with such lingering negativity directed at him.  

Chanyeol knew it was fully his fault and his self-imposed exile on Jindo Island was essentially a way for him to punish himself for what he had done.

 

 

 

Chanyeol skipped breakfast that morning and quickly got out of bed to begin working on the tune he had recorded himself humming in bed earlier on.

He had to prove the entire Korean music industry that he wasn’t just a rusty plagiarizer whose brain and well of creativity had run dry. And that he was still this same person known as LOEY, who poured his soul into his music simply because he loved doing what he did.

Although Chanyeol realized his faults and the mistakes he made, he still found it hard to pinpoint how he had regressed into this lazy, effortless plagiarizer. He still loved the act of making music but somehow, he lost a reason and purpose to it.

 

 

After importing the file from his phone onto his computer, Chanyeol immediately began to make an electronic version out of it on his computer’s producing software.

Chanyeol felt like his mind was flourishing and that it was just easy for him to fall back into the routine, as he continued to modify this short seven seconds long snippet, adding drum and snare beats into the tune.

 

So far, it was going well and sounded like a good intro or instrumental verse to an electronic or dance song, something he didn’t usually produce but could work with quite well too.

Those genres were popular and did rather well on the charts too so Chanyeol was confident that this could be the track that would probably redeem himself in the eyes of the public. At the moment, that was all his goals were, which was public approval. 

But that sudden burst of blossoming ideas which seamlessly flowed into each other was soon ended with the realization that Chanyeol didn’t know how to proceed further than this seven or so seconds he had composed in less than three-quarters of an hour.

 

 

Chanyeol began to panic and grew restless that he was hit by the wall of writer’s block again, just when things were going well and seemed to be looking up.

Chanyeol couldn’t believe he was wrong when he thought he was already alright. It made him stop to rethink everything he knew and even doubt himself somewhat. Did he still really have what it took to become a music producer in such a competitive, oversaturated market? Had he lost his “touch” somewhere over the past ten years?

Whatever it was, it seemed to be like that now.

 

 

 

Hunched over the desk with his computer set up in front of him, Chanyeol subconsciously squinted his eyes as he tried hard to think of something he swore he was supposed to remember.

Chanyeol just knew it was important but yet he couldn’t recall what it exactly was. This was allegedly supposed to help him in composing some new music, which was his main priority at the time.

 

Chanyeol went “Oh!” sitting up straight in his chair like he was shocked by electricity when he finally remembered what it exactly was.

Several nights ago he had found Kyungsoo singing a rendition of an old popular trot song. Despite the rendition technically being the wrong version of the song, Chanyeol was actually enthused at how blissful and at ease with the manner in which Kyungsoo had sung it.

It had actually inspired Chanyeol to try out new methods and techniques in his songwriting, employing styles he had rarely done before all in the effort of making something fresh and new.

How he wished to have a similar level of elation that Kyungsoo did, even when supposedly singing a song wrongly for years. To Chanyeol, music and composing it always had to be “right”.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol looked at the time on the taskbar of his computer and saw that it was already a few minutes past eleven in the morning.

Kyungsoo left the house very early in the morning, at least an hour before the time Chanyeol routinely woke up at.

Seeing how many hours had passed since the current time and when Kyungsoo left home, Chanyeol didn’t know if Kyungsoo would still be at the dock or if he had gone out to sea already.

In fact, Chanyeol didn’t even know if Kyungsoo would be going out to sea that day. He wasn’t sure what fishermen did in a day other than catch fish.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t really sure what to do but he just knew he had to take charge and take action over some parts of his life which he believed he still had under control.

Right there and then, Chanyeol decided he needed to go out and find Kyungsoo, in order to ask the fishermen to sing for him again. Chanyeol badly felt like he needed to hear Kyungsoo’s wrong rendition of “No Matter What” by Park Sang Cheol, in order for him to feel inspired and motivated the same way he had been that night.

Kyungsoo didn’t have a cell phone so there was no way to contact him. The only way Chanyeol could think of to find Kyungsoo at the time was to go down to the dock, and hope that Kyungsoo hadn’t gone out to sea yet.

 

 

 

Chanyeol could have waited until Kyungsoo returned home in the evening but there was at least six to seven hours before then. Chanyeol thought that was too long of a time for him.

Chanyeol didn’t like to wait; he was just so used to the concept of instant gratification like when he would literally refresh his Instagram every other minute after posting a new picture or video, so he could see the new comments and likes he had accumulated.

 

Furthermore, he had been on Jindo Island for five days now and had made almost no progress, minus that seven seconds clip he had made in less than an hour that day.

Chanyeol didn’t like to waste time especially when he was so used to a fast-paced industry where new songs were continuously produced and pumped out daily in such a manner. Sitting around idly and letting time pass without doing anything was almost akin to letting himself being swallowed by the void, where he would slowly lose popularity and relevancy by the second.

 

 

 

Chanyeol quickly undressed from the sleeping clothes he had been wearing since that morning and threw on the nearest t-shirt and pair of trousers he could find lying nearby.

Then, Chanyeol ran out of the door, grabbing the keys to the house on the desk before he left. He slid the door shut back in the frame but was too much in a haste to lock it.

Chanyeol expected to see Jongin’s bicycle leaning on the wall outside the house, but it wasn’t there that morning. Jongin had used it to go to school that day.

 

That did change Chanyeol’s plans a bit but he didn’t let it stop him. Chanyeol bent down to the ground to tie his shoelaces properly, fastening it tight and secure before he broke out into a run down the straight road between the rice fields and farmlands, which would bring him all the way down to the dock.

The last time Chanyeol had been running this hard was when he was in the army not more than three years ago. He hadn’t been exercising or working out much since then, and he certainly felt that and his age slowly creeping up to him.

 

 

Chanyeol was still in his early thirties but he felt a lot older now when he started to tire out not halfway down the road.  His legs were beginning to feel numb and tingly, his waist was aching and his breath was coming out heavy, uneven and labored.

Chanyeol did stop for a minute or two at the side of the road, leaning against a lamp post or a fence that bordered some farms from the roadside, before continuing his run down to the dock.

There were no cars or vehicles that passed by him throughout the entire time he was running down the road, so there was no option to flag one down and hitchhike all the way to the dock.

 

He was certainly sweating heavily now from all that running and the July heat. His shirt and trousers were wet from perspiration, feeling like he had just slipped into his clothes while still wet from a shower.

Chanyeol even debated if Kyungsoo would still be there at the dock this time of the day and if he was just troubling himself by coming out this far. Fishermen were known for leaving out to sea very early in the morning, after all.

 

 

 

After a point when he felt like he couldn’t run anymore but was still able to continue about his journey, Chanyeol walked instead and passed by a house with a Jindo dog in the fence barking at him as he passed by.

Chanyeol was glad to see this dog leashed in the compound, meaning it couldn’t come out and chase him like the dog he saw the other day. Chanyeol made a funny face at the dog before continuing about his way.

 

Fortunately for Chanyeol, the road towards the dock actually sloped down at a small angle because of the slightly mountainous terrain that leveled out towards the shore.

It was easier for him to run like this, although coming back would be harder when he had to climb back up against gravity. He would just deal with it later on, once he had gotten this agenda over with first.

 

 

When Chanyeol was able to see the shop buildings near the dock in his sight, he sped up his walking pace but not fast enough to break into a run because he didn’t think he had the energy for that anymore.

Chanyeol kept his head low and avoided eye-contact with anyone passing by or in the shops that might recognize him. He had been acquainted with some of the townsfolk over the past few days thanks to Kyungsoo and now wasn’t the time to stop and have a conversation with them.

Chanyeol did acknowledge their friendliness, and that was good, but he had more pressing matters at the moment.

 

Chanyeol jogged the rest of the way to the dock, having regained some energy and his breath from the walk he had taken after the sprint.

From a distance, Chanyeol could already see Kyungsoo’s fishing boat docked at its usual spot, second to last down the row. There were also fewer boats docked there that morning so it was easier to find Kyungsoo’s boat.

 

 

Except for this time, Kyungsoo’s boat was reversing and leaving the dock, most likely to go out to sea.

Seeing this, Chanyeol was immediately alarmed and from jogging, he dashed into a sprint down towards the end of the dock.

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol yelled out at the top of his voice, against the sea breeze that blew over the water and towards land, flailing his arms in the windy air as he ran even faster to catch Kyungsoo’s attention.

 

Kyungsoo was in the wheelhouse on his boat, his attention fully focused on maneuvering the boat out of the dock, having to be careful to avoid colliding with the other boats.

The engine was in reverse transmission and humming very loudly, on top of the sounds waves and water lapping up against the boat and being stirred by the driveshaft and propellers.

It wasn’t really Kyungsoo’s fault for not seeing or hearing Chanyeol initially.

 

 

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol continued to yell, rushing down the concrete-covered dock, running even faster the further down and closer he got to the end of the dock.

 

Kyungsoo’s boat had now fully reversed out of the dock and he had now switched out of the reverse transmission into the normal forward transmission. Kyungsoo had to turn off the diesel engine and restart it once he was out of the reverse transmission in order to switch the gears around to move the boat in a forward direction.

At most, Kyungsoo’s boat was at least ten meters out in the water from the dock. It was still close enough for Chanyeol to call out for Kyungsoo but still too far for what would befall him soon.

During the brief moment of silence, while the engine was off, as the boat rocked because of the small waves caused by the propellers disturbing the surface of the water, Kyungsoo only then heard Chanyeol yell out for him.

 

 

Curious, Kyungsoo left the wheelhouse and went onto the deck of his boat to see Chanyeol running down the dock towards him, calling out his name. Kyungsoo recognized Chanyeol’s deep voice even before he could see the man himself out there.

It did pique Kyungsoo’s interest to know as to what Chanyeol was doing there or what it is in particular he wanted.

 

However, Kyungsoo’s questions then turn into a panic when Chanyeol ran maybe a bit too fast for himself to even control.  

Chanyeol wasn’t able to stop in time at the edge of the dock, although he honestly did try, humans didn’t have braking systems as a vehicle would.

Chanyeol attempted to stop when he reached the end of the dock just above the water, but he lost his balance and the inertia from the sudden change of motion sent him tipping over and falling headfirst into the sea with a loud splash.

 

 

 

“Chanyeol!” Kyungsoo was now the one yelling out the other’s name when Chanyeol fell into the water. Kyungsoo stood near the edge of his boat, alarmed and worried as he looked out for Chanyeol’s figure in the water.

Chanyeol was seen emerging at the surface briefly as he struggled to put his arm out and catch onto the structure of the dock to haul himself back up to land. Chanyeol failed at that because the dock was too high above even for his long limbs to catch onto.

He was then slipping back under the depths of the turquoise water. In retrospective, the water was way cooler compared to how hot and sweaty Chanyeol had been earlier on.

Chanyeol hadn’t told Kyungsoo about it but the younger man surely knew now that Chanyeol could not swim.

 

 

The loud splash had alerted the other fishermen who were around the dock too and they went to see what was going on. It was an unspoken code between the fishermen to watch out for each other when they heard large splashes into the water, just in case someone had gone overboard or dropped something into the water.

Two fishermen who were on the dock had heard Chanyeol falling into the water and rushed to the end of it to check.

 

Even before they could arrive, Kyungsoo had taken off his shirt and dived off his boat and straight into the water.

Kyungsoo swam fast to where Chanyeol was flailing and struggling to keep his head above the water. Kyungsoo went underwater below Chanyeol to grab onto his waist and swim back up to the surface with Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo was able to keep Chanyeol afloat with their heads above the water, as the two other fishermen stretched out their arms to help bring Chanyeol to dry surface.

 

 

After Chanyeol was pulled back onto the dock, then the two fishermen helped to bring Kyungsoo back up too.

One of the fishermen ran back to his boat to grab a towel for them while another patted Chanyeol on the back, asking him if he was alright.

Chanyeol simply nodded his head muttering out, “I’m fine, thanks,” while sitting on the concrete surface of the dock as he pressed his legs to his chest and hugged himself. Chanyeol was fully dressed and wet, all the way from his head to toe.

 

Kyungsoo, still dripping wet and shirtless, crouched to the ground to check up on Chanyeol.

“Are you alright, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo concernedly asked with a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, sorry for troubling you,” Chanyeol murmured softly, still a bit shocked and embarrassed too at what happened. That was certainly a first for him.

“No, don’t worry about that. Trust me, you weren’t the first person to fall over,” Kyungsoo assured with a smile as he helped to wrap a towel around Chanyeol when they arrived with the other fisherman.

 

 

Chanyeol pulled the towel close to himself as he felt himself slightly shiver from the sudden changes of temperature he was subjected to from running in the summer heat to falling into the cold sea and then being pulled back ashore into the heat while still wet.

Despite feeling cool from the plunge into the sea, Chanyeol felt rather warm on his forehead and around his face all the way to his upper neck. His nose also began to feel tingly for some reasons.

 

 

 

The sun was beating down rather harshly at the point in the midday but Chanyeol was actually shielded against it by Kyungsoo and the figure of the two other fishermen who had come to his rescue.

They were talking to each other, standing around Chanyeol as their bodies’ casted short shadows to block the sun somewhat from where he was sitting on the ground.

 

Kyungsoo and the two fishermen were talking in the local dialect, one which Chanyeol understood if they didn’t speak too fast, but one he didn’t know how to talk in himself.

Chanyeol managed to make out the majority of their conversation except for when one of the fisherman’s accent was too thick for him to discern. It still sounded like Korean but was almost unintelligible to Chanyeol.

 

From their conversation, Chanyeol understood that Kyungsoo had decided to not go out to sea that day to bring Chanyeol home and watch over him. One of the fishermen offered to help park Kyungsoo’s back at the dock so he could just bring Chanyeol home.

Before they left, they asked Chanyeol again if he was alright and if he needed anything else. Chanyeol shook his head and politely told them “no thanks”, before following Kyungsoo back to the truck.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo never locked his truck and the keys were always left hanging in the ignition. There was really no fear of theft on the island because everyone knew and trusted each other. Besides that, a thief wouldn’t be interested to come and steal things from a fishing and farming island when they could target wealthier people on the mainland.

Kyungsoo had borrowed two more towels from the fishermen earlier on, which he laid out on the truck seats for him and Chanyeol to sit on since they were still very much far from being dry. 

 

Then, Kyungsoo wound down the windows and Chanyeol followed suit before taking off his wet shirt and rolling it into a ball which he then placed on his equally wet lap.

They spent the entire drive back to their home shirtless while wearing wet trousers.

 

 

Now, Chanyeol’s head was beginning to ache and despite the rush of air blowing into the truck when Kyungsoo drove it with the windows down, Chanyeol still felt the heat around his head area now creeping down to his torso as his nose felt even stuffier.

“I’m really sorry that you weren’t able to go out to sea today because of me. That’s your livelihood and it was really selfish of me. I promise to pay you back the income you lost today,” Chanyeol apologized on the way back.

Kyungsoo smiled a bit, glancing over at Chanyeol on the passenger seat for a brief moment, “It’s alright, what matters is that you’re safe. It was dangerous because you couldn’t swim. We were lucky there were people around at the time.”

“No,” Chanyeol pestered, “I still feel very bad for the inconvenience I’ve caused you. I should have just waited until you were home in the evening to look for you.”

“Inconvenience?” Kyungsoo repeated, sounding a bit bemused, “I don’t think you’ve troubled me at all. All I did was help you out of the water and that is my responsibility. I can’t just sit around and watch someone drown.”

“Yeah, but I almost drowned because of my own stupidity. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” Chanyeol admitted.

“Never mind that,” Kyungsoo quickly changed the topic, “How are you feeling anyway? Are your wallet and phone alright after being in the water?”

“Oh, I didn’t bring any of those because I left the house in a rush. I just wanted to look for you and I rushed there because it was late and you usually leave the house early,” Chanyeol answered, then feeling into his pockets to find the house keys still there.

“I was late myself today too,” Kyungsoo revealed, “I’m still waiting for my replacement nets to arrive so I can’t go purse seine fishing yet. I just go out to sea and set up a few rods in the meantime. I don’t really catch enough to sell but I can still make some money by selling it to the processors on the mainland. I only caught five or so fish yesterday so I’m not really going to lose out if I don’t go today either.”

“I see, but what’s purse seine fishing?” Chanyeol asked, confused.

“It’s a method of fishing where I set the seine net into the water and it forms a purse to catch the school of fish swimming in the waters. It’s the fastest and easiest way to catch fish but there are laws that I cannot fish with those methods within several kilometers from the shore” Kyungsoo explained, making a figure with his hand to show to Chanyeol.

“Oh, okay,” Chanyeol nodded, understanding it somewhat.

“What were you doing out there anyway? Did you need something?” Kyungsoo chuckled to himself, driving with his one hand on the steering and the other leaning on the car window sill as usual.

“I was going to look for you for something actually,” Chanyeol pulled a strand of his wet hair near his forehead, which had been growing longer, “I wanted to ask you to sing that Park Sang Cheol song again so I could record it.”

“You know it’s the wrong version,” Kyungsoo pointed out, slowing down when he saw their house up ahead.

“It doesn’t matter actually. I could use it for something if you let me, that is. I’ll credit you for it, I promise,” Chanyeol pledged.

“Fine, I’ll let you record it if you want. Just let me know when you want to do it,” Kyungsoo agreed, pulling up the truck in front of their house.

Chanyeol sneezed at the same time the truck came to a stop, feeling a pressure build up in his sinus and begin to give him a headache.

 

 

 

Back at home, Kyungsoo turned on the water heating system to prepare a hot shower for Chanyeol, after seeing him sneeze and begin to shiver after falling into the sea, despite it being in the middle of the day in the summer.

Kyungsoo let Chanyeol shower first while he cooked something in the kitchen before going to shower himself with the remaining hot water left.

While Kyungsoo showered, he left the stove running with the pot of porridge simmering on a low fire.

 

After Kyungsoo was done showering and had changed into dry clothes, he stirred the porridge and waited to make sure it was all cooked before turning the fire off.

Kyungsoo poured two bowls full of porridge and put a spoon in each of the bowls, before setting the bowls out on the low table in the living room in front of the television.

 

 

Then, Kyungsoo went to knock on Chanyeol’s room to ask him to come out and have a late lunch with the porridge and the condiments such as kimchi and salted eggs that he had prepared.

After a few knocks, Chanyeol who had been lying in bed, got up to get the door. However, he fell off the bed the moment he planted one foot on the ground because his legs were unable to support his weight. Fortunately, the bed was low and it was just a short fall to the floor where he was able to catch himself with his elbows.

Chanyeol felt exhausted and tired from all that running, overexertion and the mental stress of shock he faced by falling into the sea and thinking that he would drown at that moment.

 

Kyungsoo heard the loud thud and the sounds of scuffling that Chanyeol made when he fell.

“Chanyeol, are you alright?” Kyungsoo was alerted by the sound, as he stood outside Chanyeol’s door with his hand already on the handle.

“I’m fine, it’s okay, just come in,” Chanyeol spoke loud enough for Kyungsoo to hear him behind the door as he got back onto his feet, throwing back the blankets that had wrapped and tangled around him when he fell.

 

 

Kyungsoo opened the door slowly, coming face to face with a very tired looking Chanyeol with still messy and slightly damp hair.  

Chanyeol was wearing a grey hoodie and similarly colored sweatpants. He had put the hood up and only turned on the fan in his room because he actually felt cold despite the weather.

“You are sick, aren’t you?” Kyungsoo saved Chanyeol the explanation because he could see that fact for himself.

“What?” Chanyeol feigned ignorance as he put the hood of his hoodie down and ran a hand back on his moppy hair, “I am fine. I’m just going to work a bit now.”

 

There was no lying about that though. Even from doing that, Chanyeol could already feel how hot his head was. Even Chanyeol was surprised himself.

Kyungsoo came forward and without warning, he grabbed Chanyeol’s hand to hold in his own before letting it go and pressing the back of his palm to Chanyeol’s forehead.

Kyungsoo had to tilt his head to look up and do that because of how tall Chanyeol was compared to him.

 

 

“I think you’re developing a fever. You should rest in bed. I’ll bring your food to you,” Kyungsoo suggested, patting Chanyeol on the arm.

“No, I am fine,” Chanyeol tried to assure, “I need to work first.”

“Chanyeol, please,” Kyungsoo’s voice was soft, persuasive and there was a sense of calmness from just listening to it, “As my guest here, it is my responsibility to make sure your wellbeing is being taken care of. So please rest for today, alright? If you get even worse and sick, you won’t be able to do anything at all. Your health is important.”

 

Looking back into Kyungsoo’s glassy eyes, Chanyeol didn’t have the heart to say no to someone who had been nothing but kind and inviting to him.

He was reluctant and stubborn but Kyungsoo made him give in. Chanyeol nodded and sat back on the bed as Kyungsoo left to get a tray to bring his food to him.

 

 

 

While Chanyeol ate on one side of the bed, Kyungsoo sat on the other end of the bed with his legs crossed and a basket in his lap.

Kyungsoo was pulling out stalks from the cherries their neighbors had given them, obtained from one of the many farms on the island.

It was common practice to share their products with each other. Just as Kyungsoo often caught fish to give around to others, he also obtained other fruits and vegetables from those who ran farms and fields instead.

 

“Do you like the porridge? I put some ginseng roots in them. It’s supposed to help you feel better when you’re sick,” Kyungsoo asked, separating the cherries from the stalks.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded, holding the porcelain bowl up with his left hand while his right hand held the spoon to feed himself, “It tastes like the porridge the old people make.”

“I bet they know how to make it better than I do,” Kyungsoo smiled to himself, looking up at Chanyeol and then back at the basket of cherries on his lap.

“I think yours is good too,” Chanyeol affirmed, smiling in return too despite how light-headed he was beginning to feel. His body was also beginning to heat up now from the ginseng porridge, but in a soothing way and not unlike the fever he was developing.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo expressed, “We still have some ginseng roots so I was thinking of making chicken soup tonight with it. It’ll help you feel much better too. But we don’t have chicken in the house at the moment. I need to ask Jongin to get some when he gets back from school.”

“Do you want to use my phone to text Jongin? I have his phone number.” Chanyeol offered, picking up his phone that was lying somewhere on the bed as he handed the device to Kyungsoo.

“I’m sorry I don’t know how to use a phone like that,” Kyungsoo shook his head, “Since you have his phone number, can you tell him to get about a kilogram of chicken thigh from the usual farm.”

“Sure, I’ll tell him that then,” Chanyeol nodded; unlocking his phone and then opening the messaging app he had added Jongin on. As Chanyeol was typing out the text to Jongin just like Kyungsoo had told him to, he looked back up at Kyungsoo from his phone, “Wait, you get chicken parts from a farm and not the market?”

“Yes,” Kyungsoo confirmed, “You can buy it at the market in town too if you want but we can get it fresh from the farm too. The farm here actually exports out to the bigger cities like in Mokpo and Yeosu.”

“That’s interesting,” Chanyeol noted. Things were certainly different here than he was used to in Seoul. He was even a bit eager to find out if the chicken here actually tasted better or different than the frozen ones he got in the market. 

 

 

While Chanyeol was busy typing out the text and had somehow ended up drifting off to check his Instagram and some internet portals while he was at it, Kyungsoo had finished removing the cherries from their stalks.

Seeing that Chanyeol was busy with both hands typing on his phone, Kyungsoo picked up a fat purple cherry from the basket that looked juicier than the rest.

Kyungsoo leaned over the gap between them on the bed, bringing the cherry close to Chanyeol’s mouth.

“Here, eat up,” Kyungsoo announced, smiling.

Chanyeol looked up from his phone to see Kyungsoo and the cherry so close to him, smiling sweetly like the fruit himself. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile and feel a bit shy for some reasons as he opened his mouth and let Kyungsoo feed him.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol muttered back, his cheeks bulging from the cherry in his mouth.

 

 

 

Chanyeol took a nap later in the afternoon, where he had a dream about falling into the sea again. Except in the dream, the dock looked a bit different and he had been so grateful and crying into Kyungsoo’s arms after.

When Chanyeol woke up in the evening, he realized his dreams may have been his subconscious mind being thankful and appreciative towards Kyungsoo for saving him out of the water.

At the moment, Chanyeol had even forgotten about the whole thing of wanting to hear Kyungsoo sing again. He now just wanted to find Kyungsoo and express his gratitude when he realized that he didn’t so much as say “thanks” to Kyungsoo for saving him.

 

 

Slowly and still groggy from the nap with a slight headache, Chanyeol left his room to look for Kyungsoo.

He found the front sliding doors open and Kyungsoo was seen outside the porch, hanging out the towels they had borrowed from the other fishermen earlier that day.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol called out softly, stepping out onto the porch, still tired and his eyes a bit heavy.

Kyungsoo turned around after clipping the towel onto the line, facing Chanyeol, “Oh, you’re awake.”

 

With bare feet, Chanyeol stepped outside off the porch to where the clothing lines were and stood in front of Kyungsoo, towering the younger man by a good five inches.

Chanyeol bowed his head slightly, “Thank you so much for rescuing me from the sea today because I couldn’t swim. I didn’t know what would happen to me if you weren’t there and for that, I am really thankful.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that. It’s a normal thing to do when someone is in need,” Kyungsoo beamed, assuring Chanyeol, “I’m sure anyone would do the same too.”

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol began to feel emotional and slightly teary, “I thought everyone hated me after what I did which is why I ran here to hide. But you and everyone else have been so nice to me, I feel like I don’t deserve this.”

Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around Chanyeol, pulling the older man into a warm embrace, “It’s alright. Jongin told me about what happened to you and I don’t think stealing a song or two is so bad. At least you learned from it and are trying to fix things.”

“-but don’t you hate me too when you heard about it too?” Chanyeol dryly sobbed, letting himself be hugged.

“Of course not, which is why you were given this second chance,” Kyungsoo hugged Chanyeol tight, linking his hands together behind Chanyeol’s back.

“Thank you so much,” Chanyeol sighed, tearing up as he hugged Kyungsoo back, pressing his head to the sides of Kyungsoo’s as he buried his face on the shorter man’s shoulder.

 

 

At the same time, Jongin arrived home from school to see his brother and this famous music producer from Seoul hugging it out in their front yard.

They didn’t even notice him arriving so Jongin rang the bell on his bicycle to grab their attention as he cleared his throat.

Finally realizing he was there, they quickly got off each other.

 

“I know it’s none of my business but I have the chicken you told me to get,” Jongin told, lifting the plastic bag of chicken parts from the basket of his bicycle.

“Good,” Kyungsoo quickly walked up to grab the plastic bag off of Jongin, seeming like he was avoiding something now as he excused himself, “I’ll start cooking now.”

Chanyeol was left at the porch with Jongin who was putting his bicycle on its stand and then leaning it against the wall outside the house. Chanyeol attempted to make small talk, “So, umm…how was school?”

Jongin only stared at Chanyeol awkwardly, eyeing him from head to toe, “Let me ask you, how is my brother?”

 

 


	4. Of Cycling and Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to paste a chunk of words into the chapter so I had to re-upload it. Sorry for the email spam.

 

Almost two weeks since Chanyeol moved to Jindo Island, the summer school holidays began in mid-July and Jongin began staying at home during the day more often than before. In fact, Jongin was almost always at Kyungsoo’s home if he wasn’t out doing whatever it was he usually did outside.

Chanyeol wouldn’t have mind that at all if it weren’t for the fact that Jongin was actually distracting his work.

 

 

Chanyeol spent all day in his room, alone, while he recorded and worked on writing new songs. In the past week since he came up with the 7-second snippet he was actually quite proud of, he hadn’t actually made further progress than that.

What he had come up with was barely even 30 seconds long and although it could and had potential to be worked on, Chanyeol still found it very difficult and he actually felt hesitant of continuing further with it.

Chanyeol was so afraid that his expectations and goals wouldn’t equally translate to the final finished product. He was fearful of the impending disappointment he might or might not feel when it was completed, because it would have been for nothing.

 

Chanyeol had big expectations and this new song he would release could either make or break the rest of his entire career in the music industry after the plagiarizing scandal he was guilty of.

If the song flopped, Chanyeol would forever be remembered as a plagiarizer with no songwriting talent or skills. No artists or record labels would be interested in collaborating with him or would even want to be associated with his name.

However, if it was a hit and successful, Chanyeol would redeem himself in the eyes of the public, the artists, the fans and even his own record label who was basically dissociating themselves from him to save face.

 

 

Chanyeol had to really make it big or go home. Chanyeol had even begun to wonder what it is he would do if he had to retire as a music producer or a songwriter.

He didn’t really possess any other marketable skills which weren’t music related. With a tarnished name and if he couldn’t clear it up, he would be jobless in an industry that relied heavily on connections and reputation.

Chanyeol was actually miserable and very much afraid of the thought of being jobless and he even thought of maybe just permanently moving to Jindo Island and becoming a farmer or fisherman if all else failed.

At least most of the people here didn’t actually knew him or cared about his scandal, so he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed if he was recognized by people as that music producer who plagiarized and had it cost his entire career.

 

Although the thought of it was scary, it hadn’t happened yet and Chanyeol still had the time and opportunity to make a comeback in this fast-paced and oversaturated industry while he was still ahead.

Now, Chanyeol had this one hurdle to get over, and that was Jongin loudly blasting music over his phone and Bluetooth speakers in the living room just outside of Chanyeol’s room.

 

 

Chanyeol needed silence with minimal to no background noise while he was recording and that wasn’t possible since Jongin was at home during the day because of the summer break.

This hadn’t been a problem when Chanyeol was home alone during the day, while Kyungsoo was out at sea and Jongin was at school.

 

 

 

For the past few hours, Chanyeol had been procrastinating and occupying himself with different things, hoping that Jongin would turn off his music and quiet down eventually. That never happened though and by noon, Jongin was still blasting his music loudly

Furthermore, Chanyeol didn’t want to be that cranky adult who kept telling the kids to quiet down and stop having fun because he needed to work, but he really needed to do that now.

 

It did make Chanyeol realize he was getting quite old. In fact, if he had been a young father, he would be old enough to be Jongin’s father now.

Chanyeol certainly didn’t want to be a killjoy because he had hated it too when he was having fun as a child and the adults would tell him to stop because they needed to do something.

 

 

Chanyeol had to do it though and with a heavy sigh, he got up from his chair and left the room to find that Jongin was doing some floor dance moves in the living room.

Jongin had pushed aside the low table and the pillows they use to sit on, so he could have more space as he was practicing some sort of dance move Chanyeol couldn't bother to know.

The music from his phone and connected to his Bluetooth speakers were still blasting a dance beat very loud on maximum volume. It was even louder outside here, Chanyeol found out.

 

“Oh hey,” Jongin greeted Chanyeol, continuing his dance moves until the track ended just a few seconds after. Only then, Jongin got up to pause his playlist as he stood up facing Chanyeol, sweating and slightly panting.

Chanyeol had his hands in the pockets of his shorts as he nodded back at Jongin, trying to figure out what to say and as nicely as possible.

“So yeah, what’s up?” Jongin asked, with his hands on his hips as he was steadying his breathing, dressed in just a wife beater and shorts, “Do you need me to go to the store for something?”

“No, not really,” Chanyeol flustered a bit. He actually held on tight to the reputation of wanting to be that cool, relatable adult whom the kids and teenagers could hang out with and admire. Chanyeol chose to talk about another subject instead, “I’ve been hearing you play music all day. I’ve just been wondering what you are up to.”

“I’m practicing for a dance competition that is going to be held in a few weeks time. It’s going to be held in Mokpo and it's going to be the biggest event in the South Jeolla province. I’ve heard that some famous choreographers from Seoul are going to come here and scout some talent too,” Jongin quickly answered, sounding eager and excited.

“I see,” Chanyeol understood, “So that’s what you’ve been up to. Are you really interested in dancing?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jongin’s face lit up, “I get dance lessons from the performing arts center here since there are no dance schools on the island and I’m the secretary of the dance club at school too. It’s pretty small though, there are just six members including me.” Jongin then took his phone off from the tabletop and opened some videos to show Chanyeol, “Here are some of our dance covers. We even covered a song you composed for CBX too.”

Chanyeol went “Oh”, and tried his best to not look disinterested when Jongin was beaming and excitedly showing Chanyeol his dance covers together with his group from school.  

“You’re pretty good,” Chanyeol had to admit. He didn’t know much about dance but he had seen many in his career and Jongin certainly had the potential for dancing, from the looks of it.

“Thanks,” Jongin continued smiling wide, happily swiping for more clips to show to Chanyeol as he explained the next video, “Oh, this is the one of me dancing with the troupe from the performing arts center here.”

 

 

This time, Chanyeol was actually genuinely interested in what was being shown to him. He hadn’t suddenly gained an interest in dancing but he was very fascinated for the song that was being played in the background of the video of Jongin dancing with his troupe from the local performing arts center.

The song in the background of the video was being played over a computer but it was a traditional instrumental track that was often played live with also traditional Korean instruments.

Chanyeol had never heard of this song but he liked the tempo and the drum beats accompanying it in the background even from the first listen.

 

“Wait,” Chanyeol halted, pausing the video and then turning to Jongin, “What was the song playing in the background? Do you know the name or the artist who recorded it?”

Jongin shrugged, “I don’t think the song even has a name. It’s in this compilation CD at the performing arts center which was recorded by the musicians from there. We just practice dances from the songs.”

“From the performing arts center on this island, you mean?” Chanyeol asked further.

“Yeah,” Jongin confirmed, “Why do you ask?”

“Can you find me the person who recorded this song if I go to the performing arts center?” Chanyeol questioned.

“Like, today?” Jongin tilted his head slightly.

“Yeah, today is good too if that’s possible or even tomorrow. Can you take me there?” Chanyeol sounded growingly impatient.

“I don’t know about that,” Jongin rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from Chanyeol, “The performing arts center is pretty far away. We can’t get there on my bike because it’s on the side of a mountain and the bus doesn’t stop there either. You’d have to tell Kyungsoo-hyung to bring you there. It’s his off day tomorrow.”

“So Kyungsoo can help me find this person there?” Chanyeol continued to ask.

“I don’t know, I’m not sure, to be honest,” Jongin revealed, “Some of the songs are really old and were recorded ten to twenty years ago. I can’t even tell you if the person who recorded the song is still alive today. Besides, why do you want to find the artist so badly?”

“It’s a songwriting thing. You probably won’t understand-” Chanyeol tried to explain as he rambled on, “-but I believe that this is what I need and if I can talk to the artist, I can find some inspiration or use it a sample for my work. But this time I will make credits where it is due of course so nobody accuses me of plagiarizing. This is just what I need in this industry which is currently obsessed with electronic music. Incorporating traditional samples and blending it with a new genre is new and quite unheard of, so it is time to show them that I am still indeed original.”

“Uh…,” Jongin was at a loss of words to say, “Good for you, I guess.”

“Yes, it’s good indeed!” Chanyeol exclaimed, forgetting the real reason why had came out of his room in the first place.

 

 

Chanyeol quickly left and returned to his room, shutting the door and putting his headphones on as he discarded the thought of needing the silence to record, choosing to busy himself with the music producing software as he came up with a new catchy beat which he already envisioned to be a hit.

Jongin didn’t understand any of that for sure but he didn’t feel like it concerned him anyway. Jongin quickly returned to practicing his dance in the living room, with his song playing over the Bluetooth speakers but less loud this time.

Jongin left the house a few hours later, leaving the house in entire silence like the way Chanyeol wanted it to be. Except, Chanyeol was too busy blasting his own music over his headphones while crouched in front of his computer trying to work very hard and come up with something.

 

 

 

In the evening, Kyungsoo came home with containers of already cooked food from one fisherman’s wife who had made extra to give away, which they did on a regular basis. In return, Kyungsoo gave away some of the fish he had caught that day.

Not needing to cook, Kyungsoo only needed to lay out some plates and cups for them to have dinner with when he got home.

Jongin usually took care of the chores such as sweeping, wiping, laundry and occasionally mopping when needed, in exchange for staying there, so Kyungsoo didn’t need to do much that evening.

 

Jongin didn’t come home for dinner that evening so it was just Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, although they left some food for Jongin later on when he got back.

After they were done eating, Chanyeol helped to clean up while Kyungsoo did the dishes.

 

 

Kyungsoo finished doing the dishes even faster than it took Chanyeol to wipe the table, clear away the bits of food that dropped on the floor and then sweep the living room.

While Chanyeol was still sweeping out the dust on the floor all the way out to the porch outside, Kyungsoo was sitting on the platform outside the door while he was picking away at his teeth with a toothpick.

Near the door where Kyungsoo was relaxing at, Chanyeol stopped sweeping for a moment and while he still had the broom in his hand, he brought up the request he had been intending to ask Kyungsoo all day.

 

“You’re not working tomorrow, right?” Chanyeol started the conversation.

“Yeah, I take a day off once or twice a week,” Kyungsoo answered.

“So that means you’re free tomorrow?” Chanyeol inquired.

“I will be, why?” Kyungsoo looked up at Chanyeol standing beside him, pushing his head back to look.

“I was wondering if you could take me to the performing arts center tomorrow. I heard this song from Jongin’s phone which was recorded there and I’d like to find whoever wrote or performed the original song,” Chanyeol replied, still gripping the pole of the broom with both hands.

“Oh, the Namdo performing arts center where Jongin goes to,” Kyungsoo understood as he nodded along.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Chanyeol affirmed. He had looked up the place online too after Jongin mentioned it. 

“Sure, I can take you there tomorrow. What time would you like to go?” Kyungsoo smiled, chuckling a little as he continued to look up towards Chanyeol.

“Is eleven to twelve noon alright with you?” Chanyeol suggested.

“Of course, we’ll go around that time then,” Kyungsoo agreed.

“Yes,” Chanyeol pumped a fist, feeling a whole lot prospective already, “Thank you so much.”

“No problem. I’m not doing anything tomorrow anyway so I might as well show you around the island,” Kyungsoo smiled back.

“Speaking of which, where is Jongin? Did he go back to your parent’s place?” Chanyeol questioned, looking out from their bright porch and over the wooden fence towards the small road which was dark at night, lit by several and spaced apart street lamps.

“Nah, he’s probably over at a friend’s house to practice for this dance competition,” Kyungsoo revealed, “He won’t be going home to our parent’s place anytime soon.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol reacted, choosing not to say or ask anything further, remembering that Kyungsoo said something about their parents still being mad at Jongin for something he didn’t want to talk about.

The last thing Chanyeol wanted to do now was to be involved in some family drama or dispute he knew neither head nor tails about.  

 

 

 

 

The following morning at half-past eleven, after breakfast and a few hours relaxing at home, Chanyeol hopped into the passenger seat of Kyungsoo’s truck as the younger man drove them down to the island’s performing arts center.

Jongin had slept over at his friend’s house and was still there that day so the house was left empty while they were gone.

 

 

The performing arts center was located on the other side of the island from where Kyungsoo’s house was at. The drive there, even on empty roads with barely existent traffic on the island took at least half an hour before they arrived.

Jongin was right about the performing arts center being on the skirts of a mountain. There was a rather inclined but well paved and built road leading up to the center, which was almost impossible for someone on a bicycle to get there with unless they decided to walk up.

 

The building complex itself was newly built and modernly designed with glass features. It was very sunny when Chanyeol and Kyungsoo arrived there, pulling over in the sparse parking lots with only three or four other cars parked there.

From the elevation they were at with the center being on a mountain, Chanyeol could see a rather good view of the island and the greenery below them, under the blue, cloudless sky that afternoon.

It was too beautiful to not even acknowledge but Chanyeol was eager to be there and finally learn more about this traditional track he heard from Jongin’s phone. So, Chanyeol decided to focus on that first and keep his sightseeing for later on.

 

 

 

Together, they stepped into the building and made their way to the information counter. Kyungsoo knew the girl working behind the counter from high school, and to Chanyeol, it seemed that Kyungsoo really knew everyone on the island.

Kyungsoo helped ask on Chanyeol’s behalf about the song Jongin was practicing with his dance troupe. They were then told to meet one of the traditional music teachers in one of the rooms in the center.

 

When they arrived to meet with the traditional music teacher, a summer program for tourists and students on school holiday was being held in the rooms, where they were being taught on the basics of how to play stringed traditional instruments.

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo waited at the back of the room while the class was still going on, not wanting to disrupt it.

Chanyeol watched eagerly and with awe and heightened interest, and ended up also listening and paying attention to what this teacher was telling the class.  Even if it was a different genre and type of music he was involved with, anything related to music still intrigued Chanyeol because it was his one true passion.

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo sat and waited patiently.

 

 

Only after the class had ended, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol went up to the front to talk to the teacher, who appeared to be a middle-aged man in his fifties or sixties. He could be as old as seventy too but there was no way to tell. 

Kyungsoo hung around the room while Chanyeol talked to the teacher, asking him about the track he heard Jongin perform. Chanyeol also introduced himself as a music producer from Seoul and although the music teacher was not familiar with him, he seemed to understand when Chanyeol mentioned that he worked with CBX before.

CBX was South Korea’s current best-selling boy group so it wasn’t a surprise that a traditional music teacher so far out in the boonies would recognize them too.

 

 

Lucky for Chanyeol, the teacher was also the same person who had written and recorded the traditional songs Chanyeol had heard. The teacher played a CD on his radio and skipped through several tracks until Chanyeol recognized and singled out the particular one he heard from the video of Jongin's performance. 

After some discussion and talking about the song, the music teacher decided to lend Chanyeol the entire CD containing the original traditional songs he had composed.

 

The music teacher had another class session shortly so he couldn’t talk for long but he invited Chanyeol to come around when he was free, even offering him a spot in his classes.

Chanyeol was extremely grateful and bowed repeatedly to thank the music teacher before leaving the classroom as the students came in, with the CD in hand and almost skipping in joy with Kyungsoo beside him.

 

 

 

It was already lunch time around then so Chanyeol and Kyungsoo decided to go ahead and have lunch at the center’s cafeteria.

After eating what Chanyeol discovered to be one of the cheapest lunches he had ever paid for in his adult life, they bought cold soft drinks from one of the vending machines to combat the heat outside.

It was hot but it actually wasn’t that bad if Chanyeol were to compare it to Seoul. Because they were on an island and very close to the sea, there was always a cool breeze or wind to soothe down the summer heat.

 

 

Before they left the center, they sat outside while finishing their canned soft drinks, sitting on one of the tiers of the outdoor amphitheater outside the performing arts center building.

It was past two in the afternoon and the sun was no longer up overhead them, so the building casted a shadow on the outdoor amphitheater, giving them shade when they sat outside with a nice view to boot.

 

“You know, the teacher from just now invited me to come to one of his performances too,” Chanyeol recalled.

“Yeah, there’s a free performance right here every Friday night. Jongin performs in it with the dance troupe sometimes too,” Kyungsoo added, “It’s not just traditional dance though. There’s music and plays too.”

“That’s nice, I’d really like to go see it this Friday then,” Chanyeol expressed, “I didn’t know Jindo Island was so culturally rich and preserved all the traditions so well. I really thought all you people do is fish and farm.”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo stated, “-because we’re here on an island and quite far South from the rest of the peninsula, our local traditions and culture is a bit distinct from the rest of our country so it’s important that we take care of it especially with the passage of time.”

“I know, right,” Chanyeol seemed to agree, “This place is even better by the day. I really like it here already.”

“I’m glad you do,” Kyungsoo smiled a bit; “It’s not often that someone from a big city actually comes down to live here. Usually, it’s the other way around. In one generation, our population dropped from over 100,000 people to the less than 20,000 people we have living on this island now. Everyone moved out to the city.”

“I think it’s impressive though,” Chanyeol voiced his opinion, “-how you still stick by and take care of tradition or keep this place going with what you do even when everyone’s leaving to pursue bigger things in the city.”

“I love this place. It’s all the reason I’d ever need,” Kyungsoo looked out to the view of the island below them, feeling the soft wind ruffle his hair and blow gently on his face.

 

“It really looks nice from up here,” Chanyeol exclaimed, admiring the view together with Kyungsoo.

“You think this is good?” Kyungsoo scoffed, “You haven’t seen the rest of the island yet. It’s even better than this. I think you’d like it and might even help you get some of that inspiration thing.”

“You mean to say that there’s a place with a better view than this?” Chanyeol was easily impressed.

“Of course, lots of it,” Kyungsoo was proud to say as he thought of something, “Since I’m free today, I might as well take you to some places and show you around since I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that yet since you arrived.”

“-oh really?” Chanyeol was excited, eyes lighting up as a wide smile spread across his face with an almost childlike exuberance to it, which did help to prove Kyungsoo’s claim further that Chanyeol really looked young for his age.

“We’ll go there but first we need to stop by at home and get something,” Kyungsoo informed, standing up first and holding out his hand towards Chanyeol as the soothing wind continue to blow all around them.

Chanyeol grabbed that hand as they set out on their journey and mission to explore some parts of the island that day.

 

 

 

They drove for almost half an hour again, arriving a bit faster this time at their home. They only stopped there briefly for Kyungsoo to get Jongin’s bicycle and put it in the bed of the truck.

Jongin was still over at his friend’s house and didn’t take his bicycle along because his friend could drive and had picked him up.

 

Once they had Jongin’s bike in the back of the truck, Kyungsoo drove towards the coastal road on the west side of the island which was about twenty minutes away from home.

Chanyeol did ask why they needed Jongin’s bicycle, and Kyungsoo had explained that it was better experienced while they were riding on a bike instead of in a truck like they were in at the moment.

Chanyeol didn’t understand it yet but he trusted Kyungsoo.

 

 

Kyungsoo parked outside a lighthouse by the shore before they took out the bike from the truck. Kyungsoo told Chanyeol that the road by the coast from here led down all the way to a popular tourist destination and an observation deck.

Chanyeol was excited to experience the coastal road, see the famous beaches and spots but he doubted how they would do it with just one bicycle at first.

 

Kyungsoo explained that he would do the cycling and Chanyeol could just sit on the passenger seat since Jongin’s bike had one and was big enough to carry another person.

It seemed like a good idea initially, until they got into place on the bicycle and they found out that because of Chanyeol’s height and long legs, his shoed feet were basically scraping against the gravel if he rode as a passenger.

Kyungsoo was a bit embarrassed having overlooked that matter but Chanyeol quickly assured him that the reverse was fine too.

So, instead, Chanyeol did the cycling while Kyungsoo rode as a passenger and showed the way while explaining the place to Chanyeol.

 

 

 

Although it was during the school holidays and peak tourist season, the island was still relatively empty and quiet even down the coastal road.

It was past three in the afternoon and although it was still warm, it was much cloudier now and cycling by the sea was very cooling because of the constant salty breezes that blew over the water.

 

It was a bit harder to pedal a bicycle and cycle with an additional passenger but Chanyeol didn’t mind it. He especially liked it when the road sloped down a bit and he could just let the bicycle roll down without using any energy and control the brakes when needed.

The sea breeze blew in Chanyeol’s face and his hair, even stronger when he cycled fast down the road overlooking the calm, glistening sea.

 

 

Chanyeol felt unexplainably so light and happy at the moment, even if it didn’t seem like there was any reason for him to be.

He hadn’t even come up with anything he was satisfied with, he hadn’t made much progress in his work and he still had so much more to do. All Chanyeol had done so far was going fishing, falling into the sea, seeing new places and obtaining a free CD, but yet at that moment, he felt free and content.

 

Chanyeol began laughing out loud, throwing his head back with the wind, feeling like he could just let loose.

Kyungsoo, from behind Chanyeol on the bicycle’s passenger seat laughed along too at Chanyeol’s infectious laugh.

 

 

 

At one point on the coastal road beside what appeared to be a nice picture spot with the view of a small islet not far from shore, Chanyeol stopped the bike as he and Kyungsoo halted to admire the sea glistening under the sunlight that peeked through the clouds.

“I think I can understand why you like this place so much. It’s beautiful and something about it just makes me feel so easy and nice,” Chanyeol expressed, looking over his shoulder at Kyungsoo behind him, “You were right, there are nice places here.”

“I hope it’ll help inspire you or something to help you with your songs,” Kyungsoo voiced out, feeling good on Chanyeol’s behalf too.

“Thank you for being so kind to me,” Chanyeol smiled back at Kyungsoo before taking his phone out from his pocket to take a picture of the sea and the road from where they were stopped at.

“You’re welcome,” Kyungsoo replied, remembering something else, “You know, if you’re here around March, you can come to watch the yearly event when the tide is low and the sea parts to form a thin strip of land to walk on to another island. We call it the ‘Miracle Sea Road’ festival,” Kyungsoo suggested.

 

 

Chanyeol had just finished taking pictures and was going through his camera roll at the time when Kyungsoo brought it up.

Chanyeol knew he would be long gone from Jindo Island in March and frankly, he wasn’t sure if he would be returning here again at all after his rental agreement ended on the last day of October.

However, it still seemed a long time away from then and Chanyeol didn’t have the heart to tell Kyungsoo he didn’t really have plans on returning so far.

 

Looking up from his phone, Chanyeol continued to smile at Kyungsoo, “I’ll look forward to it then. So where do we go next?”

“Just cycle further down this road. It’s just straight on, you won’t miss it. I’ll let you know when we get there too,” Kyungsoo pointed the way to the observation deck they were going to visit.

“Alright then,” Chanyeol said as he placed his foot on one pedal while the other was still on the ground, ready to start cycling again. Before he did so, Chanyeol looked over his shoulder at Kyungsoo behind him again, “You’re alright back there?”

“I’m good,” Kyungsoo assured.

“You can hold onto my waist if you want. No need to be shy. I don’t mind.” Chanyeol offered.

“I’ll be alright, don’t worry about me,” Kyungsoo had to look away when Chanyeol didn’t even sound like he was joking, a bit abashed at the thought.

 

 

 

They continued cycling down the coastal road until they arrived at the observation deck up a small hill. Leaving the bicycle at the base, they walked up and on a wooden walkway built between the growth and trees on the hillside.

There were gazebos and benches to sit on around the deck, and even some empty space to have a picnic at.

 

There would be at least four more hours of light until sunset so they were a bit too early to witness the famous sunsets that made the observation deck a popular spot.

Nonetheless, it was still beautiful to Chanyeol, and the sea was wide and tranquil in front of his eyes, as numerous small islets littered near the shoreline.

Chanyeol took more pictures on his phone while he was here. Kyungsoo also helped to take a picture of Chanyeol with the view of the sea behind him, and another picture of Chanyeol posing beside a statue of the famous Admiral Lee, a popular Korean historical figure whose statue was often built beside the sea because of his fame as an admiral.

 

 

They stayed there on the deck for a while longer, sitting on a bench together and looking out to the view of the sea.

They were a bit early so there were fewer people on the deck this time of the day. But even despite that, it wasn’t very hard for Chanyeol to notice that most people there were in pairs and that they were obviously couples on a date.

Chanyeol didn’t think much of it at the time. He hadn’t had a romantic partner since after college and he never cared for it either since then because he was more invested in his job, which took first priority over everything else in his life for so long now.

 

On the other hand, Kyungsoo had never been on a date in his entire life and all of a sudden, Chanyeol seemed even more attractive now that they were there. This was probably the closest thing Kyungsoo had to with being on a date, which wasn’t even a date, to begin with.

Kyungsoo innately reminded himself that it was just probably his subconscious mind telling him to try and fit in with the other couples there.

 

Instead, Chanyeol began pointing to random different couples and asked Kyungsoo if he knew them.

Kyungsoo shook his head and a laughed a bit, explaining that he didn’t know everyone who lived there contrary to what Chanyeol believed, or that they were probably just tourists.

Kyungsoo thought it was actually amusing and that Chanyeol was just being plain adorable. Chanyeol seemed to enjoy it too.

 

 

Jongin came home at the same time Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were still on the observation deck after his friend had dropped him off back at Kyungsoo’s house.

Jongin proceeded to look for his bike because he needed to run errands but did not find it there and worried for a while that it had gotten stolen, and didn’t know how to explain that matter to Kyungsoo or his parents later on.

Jongin sure wasn’t too happy when he saw Kyungsoo unloading his bicycle back onto the ground when they arrived home later that afternoon, knowing that he had been worried for nothing.

 

 

 

Later that night, after Chanyeol was in bed and ready to go to sleep, he was lying on his side and on his phone as usual.

Chanyeol scrolled through the pictures of the scenery, of himself and even a few he took together with Kyungsoo that day.

 

Chanyeol had taken quite a lot of pictures and one of his thoughts was that some of it was good enough to post onto Instagram, which would garner him likes and nice comments.

But Chanyeol didn’t want to expose his whereabouts to the world just yet. Jindo Island was a safe haven and retreat for him and he didn’t want to ruin that.

 

Since his plagiarizing scandal breaking out, Chanyeol hadn’t posted anything on social media and his online presence was basically non-existent ever since.

Although he still missed doing it and the gratification he felt whenever someone liked his posts or started following him, Chanyeol was beginning to question why he even cared for that in the first place.

Looking back on it, it all seemed trivial and meaningless to him now.

 

 

 

 

The following morning, Chanyeol retrieved the CD he had gotten from the music teacher at the performing arts center and played it on loop as he continued working on his new song.

Chanyeol worked from the day and through the night, sleeping very late and ignoring his usual sleeping schedule and hours to get this song done, now that he was flooded with waves of ideas.

Chanyeol barely ate and came out of his room, holed up in there, not wanting to lose his momentum and continue the smooth track he felt he was on.

 

 

In just exactly one week since he started on it, Chanyeol finished the entire song and even wrote the lyrics to the song with his own vocals on the demo.

With a modern electronic style and traditional influences with an upbeat tempo, Chanyeol named the song, “Hero”, in hopes that it would indeed be the hero to save his career.

Chanyeol was actually quite proud and satisfied with his work so on a Sunday night; he uploaded the track and sent it to the executive producers at SM Entertainment to listen.

 

On the following Monday, Chanyeol eagerly waited for a response all day and when one finally came around six in the evening, Chanyeol was dejected to receive a very short email telling him that basically told him to do better.

As a result, Chanyeol continued to hole himself up in his room for the rest of the evening, even when Jongin and Kyungsoo invited him to have dinner with them.

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo took the next day off and while he was frying fish in the kitchen for lunch that afternoon, Chanyeol finally left his room and stood near the entrance to the kitchen, looking tired and disheveled because he didn’t sleep well after the rejection last night.

“Hey, you’re up,” Kyungsoo greeted, lowering the fire on the stove, “There’s no more breakfast left but lunch will be ready soon.”

“Never mind that,” Chanyeol jumped straight to the topic, “I was wondering about that thing I asked of you the other day.”

“Which one was it?” Kyungsoo asked, flipping the fish with his spatula as it sizzled in the pan.

“I still need to record you singing for me that Park Sang Cheol song,” Chanyeol answered, moving in closer to where Kyungsoo was standing in front of the gas stove.

“Wait,” Kyungsoo had to stop Chanyeol by pressing a hand on his chest, “Don’t come so close. The oil will splatter.”

“-since you’re free today, can we record it after this, please? It’s very urgent,” Chanyeol basically pleaded, grabbing onto Kyungsoo’s hand that was pushed against his chest, not letting Kyungsoo wrangle his hand free.

 

Kyungsoo’s eyes went wide and round at the urgency Chanyeol brought up and the distraught look of someone who had seen better times was displayed on Chanyeol’s face.

Kyungsoo quickly pulled his hand back to his person from Chanyeol’s grasp and then turned off the fire on the gas stove.

“Chanyeol, are you alright? You don’t really sound so good,” Kyungsoo pointed out, “You haven’t been out of your room in a while and you barely eat the food we leave behind for you too. Did you even sleep last night? Is there something bothering you?”

Chanyeol’s voice cracked and sputtered as he told Kyungsoo, “I actually finished the song two days ago and sent it over to my executives at Seoul. They listened to it but they told me it was unsatisfactory and that I could do better. I actually thought I did a good job so I don’t understand why they don’t like it. Now, I have to start from scratch all over again and look for new ideas I don’t even know where to get it from. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kyungsoo sympathized, rubbing Chanyeol on the arm, “I don’t know anything about music but I’m here to support you. You wouldn’t have gotten this far if you weren’t able to do it so I know that you are capable. I believe in you.”

“I’m really sad right now,” Chanyeol confessed, wiping away the single tear that formed at the corner of his eye with the back of his palm.

“Do you know what I do when I’m sad so I can feel better?” Kyungsoo hinted, speaking softly and smiling very so gently because he wanted Chanyeol to feel better and not even worse.

“-you go fishing by the pier?” Chanyeol guessed.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo nodded, smiling even wider, revealing to Chanyeol this one faint but visible dimple that Kyungsoo had if he smiled or grinned wide enough.

“Can we go fishing at the pier then?” Chanyeol requested, his frown turning into a small smile gradually. It really was hard to feel down in the dampers when Kyungsoo was being so encouraging and supportive of him.

Furthermore, Chanyeol had actually felt quite good after he had gone fishing with Kyungsoo the last time and he believed it would be good as a de-stress activity before he went back to his work.                                            

“Of course,” Kyungsoo agreed, turning the fire on the stove back on again, “We’ll go after we have lunch then.”

“I’ll get the plates ready then,” Chanyeol still smiled as he went to the rack to retrieve the plates and cups.

 

 

That day, they went fishing at the pier and stayed there until the sun went down. They didn’t catch much fish but they managed to talk about a lot of things and Chanyeol appreciated it because for a moment, it felt like all his problems didn’t seem to matter even if he wasn't really doing anything to supposedly "fix" his situation. 

 

 


	5. Of Apologies and Crayfish

 

July passed into August and soon, it would exactly be a month since Chanyeol arrived on Jindo Island. He had finished composing one full song that was rejected by his executive producers. Nonetheless, at least he had done something, even if he wouldn’t be able to see results out of it.

It took Chanyeol a few days of fishing, moping around and borrowing Jongin’s bicycle to go around the island until he was ready to hole himself up in his room again and work on composing again.

Sometimes, Chanyeol would cycle down by himself to an empty beach and sit for an hour or two on the rocks, watching the sunset in silence as he contemplated his life. Through doing that, Chanyeol had actually become rather acquainted with a group of divers, composed of the middle-aged women from the island who fished through diving near the beach.

They always had words of advice and encouragement for Chanyeol, and while he appreciated the gesture, he still felt like they would never be able to understand his dilemma.

 

 

It was still the school summer holidays for a few more weeks, which meant Jongin was usually hanging around the house with Chanyeol, so he was never alone during the day even when Kyungsoo was out at sea.

When Jongin was around and blasting his loud dance music on his Bluetooth speakers in the living room, Chanyeol worked on different things until the teenager left and he finally had the silence to record something without the interference of distracting background noise.

Chanyeol didn’t want to reprimand Jongin for being loud and merely learned to tolerate and work around it. Chanyeol felt even older living in a house with two people significantly younger than him, so he wasn’t really set on claiming the title of the old cranky uncle anytime soon.

 

 

 

Jongin’s dance competition would be held in Mokpo, about an hour away, on the first Saturday of August.

Leading up to the dance competition, Jongin had been training and practicing non-stop alone and with his dance group too. Sometimes, Chanyeol even found Jongin dancing under the sun outside the porch, doing some elaborate handstand or the likes of it.

Chanyeol was told by Kyungsoo to watch out for Jongin, so it was actually his business to inspect Jongin every now and then to make sure the teenager didn’t get hurt. Because according to Kyungsoo, Jongin had once broken his leg while dancing.

Chanyeol didn’t want Jongin to get hurt, and more importantly, he didn’t know what to do if Jongin broke his leg again when he was supposed to be watching over the teenager. Kyungsoo probably wouldn’t blame him if it happened, but Chanyeol couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Kyungsoo’s disappointed face.

 

 

On the Friday night before the dance competition, Jongin was literally jogging and running around the house in circles while Kyungsoo and Chanyeol avoided him as they laid out the dishes for dinner.

“Can you stop running already and eat,” Kyungsoo sighed, already seated on the pillow on the floor at their low dining table.

Chanyeol didn’t say anything, merely sitting and waiting for everyone else before they could eat. He didn’t want to interfere in such a thing.

“I can’t. I need to warm up and be energized for tomorrow so I have to prepare from tonight too. If I eat, I’ll throw up,” Jongin ran out of the door, outside to the front yard and back into the house again in circles.

“That beats the whole point, Jongin. If you tire yourself out tonight, you won’t have the energy for tomorrow. You still need rest,” Kyungsoo tried to reason.

“I can do that later, trust me,” Jongin continued running past behind Kyungsoo.

“Let’s just eat,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, shaking his head, as he picked up his chopsticks and pushed a plate of kimchi closer to Chanyeol.

“Alright,” Chanyeol nodded, holding his bowl of rice close to his face before eating.

“Oh, by the way, I’m not free tomorrow so are you able to send Jongin to Mokpo? You can drive, can you?” Kyungsoo asked, in the middle of chewing on his rice.

“Yeah, I can drive,” Chanyeol answered, “I guess I should be able to help send Jongin to Mokpo- but what do I use?”

“You can use my truck,” Kyungsoo suggested.

“Then how will you get to the dock tomorrow if I take the truck?” Chanyeol brought up.

“We have to be early!” Jongin chimed in, running on the spot behind Kyungsoo, “The competition starts at ten in the morning but I have to be there at nine to meet up with my team!”

“Yeah, what he said,” Kyungsoo added, “It takes an hour to get to Mokpo and Jongin needs to be early too so we’ll all just leave the house tomorrow at the same time. You’ll drive me to the dock and drop me off, and then you two go on ahead and drive to Mokpo.”

“So what time do we leave?” Chanyeol asked, looking up from his bowl.

“We have to be out of the house at seven the latest so you should sleep early,” Kyungsoo advised.

“Yeah, please sleep early and don’t drive too slowly as Kyungsoo hyung does. He drives like an old man and I don’t want to be late,” Jongin mentioned.

“Slow!?” Kyungsoo retorted, “I’m being safe! Besides, the roads here are country roads and not highway lanes like on the mainland. There’s no need to be fast. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Well, Chanyeol is older than you and he doesn’t seem like an old geezer unlike you,” Jongin teased.

 

 

Chanyeol chuckled while trying to hide the fact that he was laughing at their banter. He thought it was actually funny but he didn’t want Kyungsoo to feel like he was laughing at him.

Jongin did eventually stop running and then had dinner with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. Throughout dinner, Jongin was rushing and talking about how he had to go back to warming up and practicing again.

 

It didn’t really happen though because Jongin fell asleep just after they had cleaned up their dinner, sleeping in the living room with his shirt riding up; his tummy exposed and mouth half-open while snoring.

Kyungsoo only sighed even more as he dragged out an extra blanket to cover Jongin while he slept.

With Jongin asleep, Chanyeol used the short hours of silence to continue working on something before he too fell asleep not long later, with his alarm set to ring at six in the morning.

 

 

 

 

On Saturday morning the next day, Chanyeol woke up a few minutes before his alarm rang while he was still groggy and half asleep in his bed, lying down and looking up towards the ceiling.

Chanyeol’s alarm on his phone started out soft and slow before gradually speeding up as it got louder, the longer it was left on.

 

Even while still lying in bed and hearing his alarm gradually pick up speed and volume, Chanyeol was already thinking of how he could use the concept or pull inspiration even from a thing such as that.

It did make Chanyeol realize that maybe he was trying too hard to force himself to produce a new unique song which had to be a hit. It wasn’t an easy feat and it got worse when he started to compare himself to other successful producers.

Sure, everyone was different and had their own music producing styles, but Chanyeol was more envious of their success and recognition than he was of their unique works and individuality.

That kind of pressure to perform had been one of the catalysts that led to Chanyeol’s decision to plagiarize another artist. Along the way and even now, he realized that maybe he was just trying too hard beyond his actual capabilities.

Chanyeol loved music and making it, but since when had it became so stressful and started to drive him insane? That too was the reason why he was currently in the middle of nowhere, living with two brothers whom he didn’t even know existed until a month ago.

 

After he was done going over that while in bed, Chanyeol thought it would be a good day for him to take a break from writing music, go outside and do other things instead. Having to drive Jongin to Mokpo that day seemed like the best thing to happen to him now.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Jongin didn’t eat breakfast at home that day. They drove down to the dock and reached there even before seven in the morning, where they then had breakfast at a seaside café near the fisher’s market.

Chanyeol paid for all of their meals even when Kyungsoo insisted that he should pay because Chanyeol was the guest on the island and Kyungsoo said it was his responsibility as the host to do so.

 

They went their own ways after breakfast, with Kyungsoo going down to the dock towards his boat, while Chanyeol drove on with Jongin in Kyungsoo’s truck.

Chanyeol wasn’t familiar with the roads and could have used the navigation app on his phone but Jongin knew the way and was eager to point it out to Chanyeol, so they could apparently arrive there sooner- according to Jongin that was. So, Chanyeol just drove on blindly with Jongin telling him where to go.

 

 

With the weekend traffic and Jongin needing to stop to pee at a gas station at least once, Chanyeol finally pulled up at the gymnasium hall where the dance competition would be held, just a few minutes before nine in the morning.

Jongin quickly grabbed his bag pack, said goodbye and told Chanyeol to pick him up after two in the afternoon.

While Chanyeol was pulling out from the parking lots in front of the gymnasium, he could see other parents dropping off their children for the dance competition. Again, Chanyeol felt old, because he could have been Jongin’s father and even blend in with the rest of the parents there.

 

 

 

 

With five hours to waste, Chanyeol decided to explore Mokpo and spend some time in a city before he returned to Jindo Island. Since he was there, he might as well enjoy what he couldn’t find on a rural island.

For the first time in a month, Chanyeol stepped into a shopping mall to buy something and not a wet market by the dock or a small general store ran by a single family, who had apparently been continuing the business for many generations now.

 

Chanyeol shopped for supplies such as personal hygiene items from brands he couldn’t find on the island, especially the more high-end ones he was used to. While at it, Chanyeol also bought new clothes and shoes from designer brands which were of course not available on the island too.

Chanyeol earned pretty well from royalties and the amount he charged for producing a single song because of his fame and status, so he was able to afford such things, although he expected his income to be on a decline now with the scandal and whatnot.

Chanyeol stopped at a popular franchise coffee chain that would be far from ever existing on Jindo Island. On the island, everyone bought their own powdered coffee beans from the same store and made it themselves with just sugar or milk.

He stayed there for at least an hour to charge his phone, check his social media while drinking overpriced and heavily sugared coffee and continued to wait until it was time to pick Jongin up.

 

 

After going through two different shopping malls, Chanyeol decided to get something for Jongin and Kyungsoo too.

Chanyeol bought Jongin a pair of wireless earbuds as a gift, which was meant to benefit him too because now Jongin could practice his dance and leave the place as quiet as Chanyeol wanted it to be.

Chanyeol thought of buying a shirt for Kyungsoo but he could already imagine the latter’s flustered face, telling him to take back the gift because Kyungsoo was the type of person who was uncomfortable about receiving things and feeling indebted to others.

 

Instead, Chanyeol decided to do something more subtle as a gift to Kyungsoo, which he couldn’t refuse too.

Chanyeol sent Kyungsoo’s truck to a mechanic’s for quick service and oil change. Chanyeol then filled up the truck with gas until it was at full tank

At the gas station, a young woman recognized him and even asked Chanyeol if he was LOEY. Chanyeol pretended to not know what she was talking about and quickly ran back to the truck to pick up Jongin.

Chanyeol thought he had been discreet and did his best to avoid people who might recognize him that day, but it didn’t appear to be like that. At least, he was doing something else other than stress about making music so there was that.

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

At half-past-two, Chanyeol received a text from Jongin, asking to be picked up just as Chanyeol was on the way to the gymnasium already.

Chanyeol stopped the truck where he had dropped Jongin off earlier on, where Jongin was already waiting with his bag slung over one shoulder and a frown visibly displayed on his face.

 

“How did you do?” Chanyeol asked excitedly when Jongin entered the truck and slammed the passenger door shut.

“Third place out of fifteen groups,” Jongin’s voice was monotonous and flat when he replied.

“Wow, that’s great. Good job and congratulations!” Chanyeol praised as he began to drive again, out from the gymnasium’s parking lots.

“Yeah, I know a third place is alright considering we didn’t even place the previous year but we could’ve gotten second place if it weren’t for her team beating us by a mere one point,” Jongin hissed, sounding bitter as he looked out the window from inside the truck.

“Who’s ‘her’?” Chanyeol questioned, paying attention to the road and to what Jongin was talking about.

“My ex-girlfriend, Jennie and her dance team. I knew she’d be joining the competition too since I saw her team practicing in the school hall a few weeks ago,” Jongin answered after a pause, sulking.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” Chanyeol chuckled.

“You didn’t? I thought Kyungsoo hyung told you about it,” Jongin continued to look out at the window and the cityscape that passed them by in the moving truck.

“No, he didn’t tell me about it? Should he?” Chanyeol was curious.

Jongin sighed, “I got into a lot of trouble after I broke up with Jennie so it was a big issue and I thought Kyungsoo would have told you about it because of that.”

“How would you get into trouble from just breaking up with someone?” Chanyeol asked.

Jongin was hesitant to answer but he did so anyway, feeling like he could trust Chanyeol with the information, “Well, Jennie and I broke up after two months together because she said she wasn’t able to make time for studies, her dance team and me. So she cut me loose and I got mad at her, I broke into her shoe locker and threw her expensive dancing shoes in a drain outside the school gate. Someone saw me do it and I got in trouble for it. I had to work on my parent’s farm and Kyungsoo’s boat every weekend for months to earn money and give it back to Jennie so she could buy new shoes.”

“Um…” Chanyeol was at a loss of words to say, “Why’d you do that?”

“I got angry at her because she chose her dance team and her studies over me!” Jongin defended.

“-but she was honest about her reasons to you, wasn’t she?” Chanyeol reasoned, “She recognized that she was not yet able to divide her time properly. So she was actually doing you a favor by letting go of you. Do you really want to be in a relationship with someone who couldn’t spend time with you?”

“No, I don’t,” Jongin replied.

“Exactly,” Chanyeol clicked his tongue, “You didn’t like it but it sounds like Jennie was also thinking in the best of interest for you too.”

“-by breaking up with me?” Jongin remained baffled.

“You’re still young, Jongin. You two are only in high school. Maybe it was wise for you two to go your separate ways for now and learn how to deal with your own life before getting into a relationship. Who knows, one day when you’re older and more stable, you two could get back together,” Chanyeol advised.

“You really think so? Has that happened to you before?” Jongin questioned, wanting to believe Chanyeol’s optimistic input.

“Uh…well,” Chanyeol scrambled to find an answer without making himself sound like he was an unreliable source too without much dating experience because he had been too focused on his career, “I’ve seen my friends get back together once they were older and more stable, even when they broke up when they were younger. Some of them are married with children so yeah, stuff works out.”

“I hope so,” Jongin looked to the floor of the truck, hanging his head low.

“Don’t be so distraught. Things will look up. Trust me. In the meantime just keep doing what you love,” Chanyeol continued to advise, feeling a bit sure of himself at the same time too now.

 

 

As Chanyeol continued to drive back to Jindo Island with Jongin, he remembered about the wireless earbuds he bought for Jongin earlier.

Chanyeol told Jongin to open up the shopping bags and retrieve his gift, which Jongin promptly did. Jongin was beyond excited and happy about the unexpected gift, so much that he forgot to be sad and sulk about his third placing and of his ex-girlfriend.

 

 

 

 

At almost four in the afternoon, they arrived on Jindo Island and parked at the dock where they continued to wait for Kyungsoo.

Just a few minutes after they arrived there and were sitting around the dock, Jongin spotted Kyungsoo’s fishing boat approaching out from the sea. Together, they went up to the part of the dock where Kyungsoo anchored his boat at.

 

Jongin and Chanyeol helped Kyungsoo load out the ice boxes with freshly caught fish from the boat and onto the back of the truck, where it would be sold to a processor in a warehouse just very close by.

Chanyeol continued being the driver that day and before they could go home, they stopped at the processing warehouse where Kyungsoo sold the fish at. The warehouse bought fish off of fisherman like Kyungsoo, where it would then be frozen, repacked and then resold in supermarkets throughout the country.

The fish processing warehouse was a large steel building which, of course, smelled like fish. The exterior and even the parking lots outside the warehouse was wet whatnot with condensation and melting ice because the interior was kept cool like a fridge at all times.

 

 

 

They only continued their way home after Kyungsoo had sold his catch of the day and pocketed the money in a front breast pocket of the plaid shirt he wore over his wife beater that day.

Chanyeol drove and Jongin sat in between with Kyungsoo at the other end of the truck’s cabin. This time they had the air-conditioner turned on and the windows closed.

 

  
As Chanyeol was driving down the usual road it would take to get home, Jongin had a change of mind.

“Can you drop me off at my parent’s house instead?” Jongin requested, looking at Chanyeol while he was driving.

Kyungsoo winced a little when he heard Jongin say that but he chose to remain silent.

“Oh, are you sure about that?” Chanyeol had to make sure, “I thought you didn’t want to go back.”

“Well, you heard it already,” Jongin revealed, “I fought with my parents because of that thing with Jennie so I’ve been staying with Kyungsoo hyung since then. Even though I paid the cost of the shoes back, I still haven’t actually apologized to her and my parents were mad at me for not doing that.”

Kyungsoo shook his head, sighed and leaned his arm against the window.

“I thought about what you said and I have to apologize to Jennie and my parents too now. I need to show her I will be a mature person so I can hopefully have a stable relationship with her again one day as you told me,” Jongin was confident.

“That is good! I’m happy for you,” Chanyeol was encouraging.

 

 

For a short while, Chanyeol felt like an adult and a role model for someone to look up to. Chanyeol was rather proud and would have given himself a pat on the back for it. That was until he was hit by the instant realization that a sixteen-year-old boy was fessing up to his mistakes, but yet he wasn’t.

Chanyeol hadn’t exactly apologized personally to the young songwriter he plagiarized the song from. It was his record label, SM Entertainment, which had released an official apology and sent their representative over to the young songwriter to say sorry.

Chanyeol had no partaking in any of the apologies. All he did after that was hide and then run away, ending himself up on literally the other end of the country on a rural island.

Frankly, Chanyeol didn’t even know if he was ready or up for that yet. 

 

He felt like a hypocrite now at the irony of the situation. For the most part, Chanyeol managed to keep it cool and steady without breaking down and wanting to run away, while he was driving to Kyungsoo and Jongin’s parent’s home.

Chanyeol didn’t say much. He only nodded and took the turns like he was told to because it was his first time driving there, although he had met their parents a week or two ago when they came to visit at Kyungsoo’s house.

When Jongin and Kyungsoo’s parents were there last week, Jongin quickly left the house through the back door, climbed over the fence into the neighbor’s house and didn’t return until it was dark. Chanyeol understood why now.

 

 

 

When they arrived in front of the house, Jongin bade them goodbye and thanked Chanyeol for driving him around before leaving the truck. Kyungsoo told Chanyeol to wait in the truck as he too decided to follow Jongin into the house.

Chanyeol didn’t know what Kyungsoo was up to, but he assumed that Kyungsoo would be a mediator between their probably still angry parents and Jongin.

 

It was only a bit past five in the evening so it hadn’t gotten dark yet. On Jindo Island and in the summer, the sun could set as late as eight in the evening.

Chanyeol turned off the truck’s engine while he waited, not wanting to waste gas while it was idle. With the air-conditioner turned off too, Chanyeol cranked down the windows manually to let air in, because Kyungsoo still drove a truck without automatic windows.

 

 

Chanyeol pressed his head against the frame of the window, looking out at the large two-story house while he waited. The house had basically no fence around the perimeter and was literally in the middle of nowhere with no other houses or buildings in sight. At least Kyungsoo had a few neighbors. 

Right behind the house, Chanyeol could spot a large modern barn that was even bigger and taller than the house itself. Chanyeol saw some people he did not recognize, driving smaller pickup trucks and stopping in front of the barn.

And then, right outside the perimeter where the house and the barn were in, were probably tens of large greenhouses and even an orchard. On the opposite side of the road, there was a rice field too, although not as big as the ones Chanyeol had seen on the island.

 

Chanyeol knew that Kyungsoo and Jongin’s parents owned a vegetable farm with people working for them too.

When Chanyeol heard that, he certainly didn’t imagine vegetable farming on such a large scale as this. It did make Chanyeol wonder why Kyungsoo became a fisherman when his parents seemed to be well off with their farming business.

 

 

 

Chanyeol went on his phone while he waited in the truck. There was obviously no Wi-Fi there so he had to use data, and was actually impressed that the signal was rather decent albeit far from excellent there.

After maybe twenty minutes, Chanyeol saw Kyungsoo coming out of the house with what appeared to be a bundle of blankets in his arm, cradled to his chest.

Kyungsoo walked to the truck where Chanyeol had been waiting with the window cranked down. Seeing that, Chanyeol was about to turn the engine back on again, thinking that Kyungsoo was ready to go back now too.

Chanyeol changed his mind when Kyungsoo only walked up to stand outside the truck, talking to Chanyeol through the window

 

In Kyungsoo’s arms, Chanyeol saw a small brown puppy, sleeping in the cocoon of blankets which Kyungsoo was carrying and pressed to his chest.

“Oh my god, it’s so cute. Is it male or female?” Chanyeol gasped when he saw the puppy, thinking that it looked rather adorable.

“Shh, not so loud, we don’t want to wake him,” Kyungsoo hushed with a slight smile on his face, “-and it’s a boy.”

“Alright, okay,” Chanyeol nodded, lowering his voice immediately as he peered even further out from the truck window, “Where’d you get the puppy from?”

“One of my parents’ friend’s dogs gave birth but it rejected the puppy, so they decided to adopt it. It’s only three weeks old so he needs milk still. My parents have been bottle feeding the puppy,” Kyungsoo informed, rocking the puppy sleeping in his arms.

“Aw, poor thing,” Chanyeol cooed, rubbing his finger very lightly on the puppy’s nose.

“By the way, my parents asked you to join us for dinner in an hour or two so you might as well come in. You can bottle feed the puppy if you want,” Kyungsoo relayed the invitation.

“Of course I want to,” Chanyeol expressed, about to pull out the keys from the ignition when Kyungsoo told Chanyeol that he could just leave it there. No one was going to rob them there but Chanyeol was just used to living differently in Seoul.

 

 

 

Chanyeol went into Kyungsoo’s parent’s house for the first time, meeting the parents for the second time. While dinner was still being prepared, Kyungsoo brought Chanyeol upstairs to a spare room which had been modified into a playground and sleeping area for the dogs; complete with food dispensers, dog beds, and chewable toys.

Kyungsoo’s parents had a few other dogs too, including the young puppy they adopted, although the other dogs were not seen at the time. During the day, the other dogs enjoyed running around on the farm, hanging out with the workers.

 

Chanyeol never took Kyungsoo for a dog person but Jindo Island was famous for the protected Jindo dog breed, so there was that. Maybe everyone on the island was obliged to care for the dogs because of that.

The puppy woke up when they arrived in the dog room and Chanyeol entertained it by picking up a small red ball, pushing it around on the floor as the puppy wagged its tail and tried to chase after it.

After a bit of playing around, Kyungsoo handed Chanyeol a bottle of warm animal milk formula, where Chanyeol then bottle-fed the puppy until it began to yawn and then fall asleep in its neon pink bed.

 

Chanyeol enjoyed this rather therapeutic moment he experienced because, for a while, he was able to forget his problems and lingering guilt, even if he wasn’t actively doing something about it either.

Chanyeol loved dogs, even though he wasn’t able to keep one because his apartment in Seoul didn’t allow pets. Chanyeol did come across the thought that if he lived out here in Jindo Island, he could certainly have a dog and not worry about keeping it locked up in a small apartment the whole day. Here, a dog would have all the friends, fresh air and space to play around.

 

 

With still a bit more of time to spare before dinner was ready and served, Chanyeol asked to see the other dogs. Kyungsoo happily obliged and brought Chanyeol out of the house, down towards the greenhouses where the vegetable grew.

Sure enough, there were dogs seen running around and following the farm workers who were busy carrying around troughs of soil and vegetables.

Kyungsoo also introduced Chanyeol to the people who worked at his parent’s farm. They didn’t seem to recognize Chanyeol and were very warm to welcome him, even stopping work to entertain Chanyeol’s questions when he asked about the dogs that followed them around.

When it started to get dark, Chanyeol was startled and almost jumped when the floodlights in the greenhouse and around the farm automatically turned on with a loud “click” sound.

 

 

 

After spending some time petting the dogs and taking a mini-tour around the vegetable patches in the greenhouses, it was time for dinner and Chanyeol ate together with Kyungsoo, Jongin and their parents who didn't seem too angry at the teenager anymore. 

There was so much food cooked that Chanyeol doubted if all five of them could even finish it up. There were more vegetables than meat dishes at dinner and Chanyeol was often told that he was welcome to get extra servings or rice if he wished to.

At times, Chanyeol wasn’t even that hungry but did so anyway because Kyungsoo’s parents were very nice to him, and he felt like he didn’t want to disappoint them.

 

After dinner was over with, Chanyeol helped to clear up the table when he saw the teenager helping his parents pack up the extra rice and dishes into containers, which was then passed on to the farm workers who had just finished their job for their day.

Seeing that, Chanyeol understood now why they cooked a lot.

Before he and Kyungsoo too left, they were also given some more containers of food to bring home with them. Chanyeol bowed and thanked Kyungsoo’s parents for the dinner and meal, carrying the containers of food back to the truck while Kyungsoo had a plastic bag of freshly picked vegetables to carry himself.

 

 

 

It was already dark when they headed back home in the truck on a dry, cloudless summer night. This time, Kyungsoo was driving and Chanyeol stuck his head out of the window to enjoy the wind on his face as they drove down the empty roads with rice fields on either side.

“Oh look, there’s a full moon tonight,” Chanyeol pointed to the sky.

Kyungsoo peered at the sky only for a bit through the windshield because he was still driving, “Yeah, you’re right.”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? I can see so much out here. In Seoul, you won’t be able to see it this clearly because it’s so bright there,” Chanyeol recalled.

“Yeah it’s pretty,” Kyungsoo repeated, paying attention to the dashboard and the meters on it, “By the way, did you do anything to my truck? It feels smoother now.”

“I sent it for servicing and an oil change while I was in Mokpo. I also filled the gas to full tank but since we’ve driven a long way since then, I think there’s only half left,” Chanyeol replied, peering over at the gas meter and seeing that he was right about that.

“Oh, was it giving you problems?” Kyungsoo worried.

“No, not at all,” Chanyeol denied, “I bought Jongin a gift while I was in Mokpo and I didn’t think it was fair if I didn’t get you anything. I didn’t know what you’d like and I knew you’d turn down everything else so I thought that servicing your truck would be most useful to you.”

“You didn’t have to do that, but thanks a lot,” Kyungsoo was grateful, “Its due for servicing this month anyway. I owe you now.”

“Nah, you don’t,” Chanyeol smiled, leaning his head against the frame of the door as he enjoyed the wind blowing on his face.

“-you sure about that?” Kyungsoo prodded, “Not even anything like looking for inspiration around the island?”

“Well, if you want to help me with that, you could take me sightseeing around the island again when you’re free,” Chanyeol suggested.

“Hmm…,” Kyungsoo hummed to himself, thinking for a while, “I’m not free tomorrow or the day after tomorrow for that matter but since we’re already out tonight, let’s go do something I’ve been doing since I was a child.”

“What is that?” Chanyeol turned to look at Kyungsoo while the latter was still driving.

“You see those rice fields ahead with the fireflies in it,” Kyungsoo nudged.

“Yeah, why?” Chanyeol scrunched his nose, looking at where Kyungsoo was pointing out at.

“Those are Mr. Jang’s rice fields. He’s the one who lives two houses away from us. He hasn’t exactly been farming rice for the most part so he keeps crayfish in there and uses the fields as his pond,” Kyungsoo informed, “Let’s go crayfishing, I have some scoop nets in the back of the truck and it's super easy.”

“Are we even allowed to do that? You said it belonged to Mr. Jang,” Chanyeol cautioned, “Won’t he get mad at us because it’s technically stealing?”

“I’ve been doing it since I was in elementary school and never got in trouble for it. He doesn’t mind as long as we’re not making profits off of it,” Kyungsoo snickered, “Besides, you can’t even really eat those crayfish. They taste horrible.”

“Then why do you catch it if you can’t eat nor sell it?” Chanyeol asked, clueless.

“We just catch it for the fun of it. Then we put it back in the rice field, or when we were younger, my friends and I would chase the other kids around with the crayfish,” Kyungsoo laughed at the recollection.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but a laugh a little too, “That sounds like fun. I certainly never did that while growing up in Seoul.”

“Great!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, driving with both hands on the steering wheel, “Now it’s time for you to experience it then since you missed out on it as a child.”

 

Chanyeol couldn’t even refuse if he wanted to. He was actually hesitant about this new activity he had never done before, but he went along anyway. At this point, there was just no way he could ever deny or turn Kyungsoo down for anything.

Even from just the thought of Kyungsoo’s face, if he had to turn the younger man down, was already enough to break Chanyeol’s heart. Chanyeol wouldn’t know what to do if he had to actually see it with his own two eyes, especially for someone like Kyungsoo who was always smiling and cheerful.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Jang’s rice fields- and makeshift crayfish pond- was not very far from their house actually. It was a bit further down the road but even from there, they could already see their house and the surrounding cluster of few houses beside theirs.

Kyungsoo parked the truck at the side of the road beside the rice fields. Kyungsoo only had a pair of rubber boots at the back of his truck, which was way too small for Chanyeol to wear, so Chanyeol couldn’t go actually go down into the water that rose up to as high as Kyungsoo’s kneecap.

 

While Kyungsoo was the one who went down into the rice fields with the scoop net in hand, Chanyeol stood on land, shining the flashlight so Kyungsoo could see in the dark. The full moon above in the sky certainly did help too.

There were some fireflies flying around further down in the rice field but they really didn’t do much to help.

 

 

When Kyungsoo scooped up some crayfish into his net, he would walk back to the edge and show it to Chanyeol. Kyungsoo held up one crayfish, asking if Chanyeol would like to touch it. Chanyeol shook his head and vehemently said no, although he would praise Kyungsoo for each one he caught.

Kyungsoo, himself, was actually beginning to find it pleasurable to repeat the cycle of catching a crayfish and then hearing Chanyeol’s approval when he presented it to the latter. Kyungsoo didn’t understand why but it made him feel very good and validated.

Chanyeol only refused because he wasn’t sure if crayfish bit people because he certainly didn’t want to get bitten. In fact, Chanyeol wasn’t even sure why they were called crayfish when they were basically lobsters.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo got tired eventually after catching a few crayfish, showing it to Chanyeol and then releasing it back into the water.

Kyungsoo joined Chanyeol, sitting there on the dry grass near the edge of the rice field, where they saw the water slightly rippling as it reflected the moon above and the fireflies nearby. The flashlight was still turned on but pointed away in a different direction.

There were no clouds in the sky but there weren’t many stars visible that night either, probably because of the full moon. It was easier to see stars in the night sky on a new moon. There was no wind either.

 

 

As usual, everywhere around and even the roads were quiet. A car or two passed by occasionally but that was it.

Kyungsoo sat on the ground cross-legged beside Chanyeol with the scoop net, still extending the scoop net out towards the water but not trying to catch anything.

 

“I know I was actually being self-indulgent here because I like to do this and dragged you with me but I hope you’ll find some inspiration soon,” Kyungsoo chuckled to himself, his shoulders moving along as he did so.

“Don’t you worry. I can definitely make something out of this. I’m a songwriter, after all,” Chanyeol boasted, “I could write lyrics about a calm summer night like this one.”

“I’d like to listen to that song when it comes out,” Kyungsoo giggled this time with his mouth open and exposing his teeth, looking at Chanyeol right beside him.

“I’ll get you a signed copy too from whichever artist will sing it,” Chanyeol added, so sure of himself, “Do you have a favorite singer that isn’t Park Sang Cheol?”

“Not really. I don’t know many except for older trot singers. I don’t really mind who sings it as long you’re the one writing the song,” Kyungsoo nipped on his lip as he continued to hold out the scoop net by the pole, out towards the water.

“That should be easy then,” Chanyeol took a deep breath of the fresh countryside air before exhaling; pressing both hands on the grass as he leaned back slightly, “By the way, have you ever been in a relationship?”

“No. Why?” Kyungsoo responded.

“Well, I was just talking to Jongin today about the thing between him and his ex-girlfriend. I was giving him advice and stuff like that. It seemed like no one had been talking to him about it; his relationship problems. I thought you would have since you’re his brother but you didn’t, and I just thought maybe it’s because you never had experience in it to know,” Chanyeol surmised, “I’m not blaming you for it though. It was just a thought that came across my head. It’s weird, I know.”

“So you would know because you were in a relationship with someone before?” Kyungsoo assumed.

“That was a long time ago, Kyungsoo. When that happened, you probably were in middle school and Jongin was still in diapers,” Chanyeol scoffed.

“So you admit you’re old,” Kyungsoo teased.

“Compared to you, in relative terms, I am,” Chanyeol admitted, shrugging his shoulders, “I only feel older when I’m with you, to be honest.”

“Is that bad?” Kyungsoo’s face dropped, fearing he might have said or done something wrong.

“Bad? No! Of course not. Everyone gets old eventually. I was just joking when I said that. I didn’t mean it that way,” Chanyeol assured, fearing that he might have made Kyungsoo feel bad. In fact, he was already starting to get anxious just from seeing Kyungsoo’s expression change so fast, even under the minimal lighting they were getting.

 

 

Kyungsoo was quiet, looking down and feeling like he had done something wrong, while Chanyeol continued to take damage control and assure Kyungsoo there was nothing wrong about it.

“Look, let’s go catch some crayfish, alright?” Chanyeol attempted to grab the scoop net from Kyungsoo, hoping that by doing it, Kyungsoo would forget about the conversation and feel better.

Chanyeol had both of his hands on the pole of the net that Kyungsoo was still holding tightly. As Chanyeol was leaning towards Kyungsoo so he could take it, Kyungsoo turned his head to the side to look at Chanyeol in the midst of the confusion.

 

Just as they were doing that and because of how close their faces were already next to each other, their lips almost brushed against each other in the scuffle with the net.

It didn’t take even a second for them to realize that and both of them yelped, screaming in surprise as they pushed the other away in a sort of kneejerk reaction, from the almost kiss they had.

 

 

Kyungsoo began laughing loudly right after, now at least half a feet apart from Chanyeol on the grass. Chanyeol too laughed, cupping a hand to his mouth.

It took a while for them to realize that they had dropped the net into the water and later had to look for it in the dark.

 

 


	6. Of Typhoons and Lost Dogs

 

The first two weeks of August passed at a considerable pace, or that’s what Chanyeol thought. Within the month and a half, he had been on Jindo Island, Chanyeol had finished composing two songs, the rejected song included.

Chanyeol did not submit the new song he had just finished writing. He stored it in his computer and wanted to wait until he was finished composing a few more songs before sending it all in one go to his executive producers.

As a songwriter, Chanyeol was used to rejection and being told that his song was not “good enough” or not “suitable for the intended artist". However, rejection was not something he could afford at this point when his entire career was on the line because of a short-sighted mistake he made several months ago.

 

 

Since Jongin had returned to living with his parents, the house had been quiet during the day, with only Chanyeol being at home while Kyungsoo was out at sea. The quiet was most appreciated by Chanyeol who could work uninterrupted and do some recording without the noisy background noise from Jongin attempting to some complicated dance move in the living room.

School eventually started again after the short summer break and Jongin would only drop by the house every other afternoon after school to drop off food or fresh ingredients from the farm.

Chanyeol’s usual daily routine involved getting up in the morning, eating breakfast alone, working and then waiting for Kyungsoo to come home in the evening when it was almost dark.

 

 

 

One weekday afternoon in mid-August, Chanyeol was working away on his computer when he checked his phone to see that it was almost five in the evening.

There was only one high school on the island which Jongin went to, where classes ended at four in the afternoon. Jongin would usually already be at Kyungsoo’s house by this time, to send over some food his parents cooked or fresh vegetables and fruits from the farm.

 

Chanyeol checked his text messages to see if Jongin said anything about not coming that day but there was nothing to indicate that. Jongin had never been later than that too.

Chanyeol picked up his phone and left the room, walking out into the living room and headed towards the entrance where he slid open the main doors and looked outside, hoping to see the familiar figure of the teenager riding his bicycle somewhere down the road.

“Eh, where is he?” Chanyeol muttered to himself, squinting his eyes and looking both ways down the road.

 

 

Chanyeol decided to wait a bit longer and sat down on the elevated wooden porch, a few feet off the ground level. Chanyeol wasn’t too eager to go back to work immediately and could surely use a well-deserved break.

While he continued to wait for Jongin to show up, Chanyeol went on his phone and social media, refreshing the feed to see what the people he followed were up to.

Chanyeol had been silent on social media ever since, even refraining from liking posts because he didn’t want people to know that he was actually there lurking, even though he had taken many pictures from his time here on the island.

He still did receive messages from family and friends who asked him how he was doing and Chanyeol would give them the same answer every time, telling them he was alright and for them to not worry about him.

Chanyeol wasn’t ready yet to talk about it. He didn’t know if he ever would be ready but he was really hoping he would.

 

As Chanyeol was scrolling through his feed, a warning notification popped up from the weather forecast app, telling of an inbound typhoon that would make landfall in about three days on Jindo Island.

Typhoons were common in South Korea, even in Seoul, and Chanyeol had heard that it was even stronger in the far south of the Korean peninsula where Jindo Island was located.

Chanyeol didn’t worry about it too much though. He didn’t mind being stuck at home while it happened because he had been working from there anyway. Chanyeol then remembered Kyungsoo and how the latter’s source of livelihood was fishing in the ocean, and he did begin to worry then.

There was no way Kyungsoo, or any other fisherman, would be able to work during the typhoon season. Chanyeol wondered how they dealt with it year after year, especially since the fishing business on Jindo Island had been going on for a long time now.

 

 

 

Chanyeol continued waiting for at least half an hour, sitting under the porch while on his phone as he anticipated Jongin or Kyungsoo to come home.

When no one showed up, Chanyeol returned back into the house and cooked the rice for dinner, which was the only chore he was told to do.  Kyungsoo wouldn't let him do anything else. Then, Chanyeol went back to his room and put his headphones on, continuing to work on his computer with the music producing software.

 

At almost six in the evening, while it was still quite bright outside, Chanyeol heard the sounds of drilling and banging even from over the headphones he was wearing. Hearing that, Chanyeol cut the music he was playing and peeled the headphones off, hearing the familiar voices of Kyungsoo and Jongin talking before the drilling sounds were heard again.

Curious, Chanyeol left his room yet again to see Jongin holding up a wooden board against the window frame while Kyungsoo was handling a drill as they talked back and forth to each other.

 

Jongin was the first to notice Chanyeol and greeted him. This alerted Kyungsoo of Chanyeol’s presence too, who turned around to say hi too.

“What are you guys up to?” Chanyeol asked, knowing the answer but still wanting to ask as he eyed the other wooden boards on the floor near their feet.

“We need to board up the house before the typhoon arrives,” Kyungsoo answered, “Sorry, we know it’s loud but we won’t take long. We have to go help the neighbor board up their windows too later. They’re old and can’t do it alone.”

“Oh, do you need my help?” Chanyeol offered.

“Yeah, sure,” Kyungsoo agreed, “There are some boards in the back of my truck. I already tied them together so could you send them over to Mr. Kwak’s house? Just put it in front of his door and I’ll go over once I’m done with this to seal his windows.”

“Alright,” Chanyeol understood, watching Kyungsoo drill to secure the boards against the windows for a while before going outside and walking to the truck parked by the side of the road.

 

 

 

The boards were actually lighter than Chanyeol expected them to be, although he still had to put some effort into carrying them over to the Kwak’s who live just across the road from them.

Chanyeol was acquainted with Mr. Kwak and his wife, an aging couple in their early eighties who never had children. When he first moved in over a month ago, they had come over to give Chanyeol some traditional cakes as a welcome present.

Kyungsoo would often stop by their house in the evenings to give them the extra fish he caught too.

 

Chanyeol was greeted at the door by Mr. Kwak who told him to just set down the wooden boards anywhere. Shortly later, Kyungsoo arrived with Jongin at the Kwak’s residence to help put up the wooden boards to seal the windows. Chanyeol didn’t do much, although he did help pass the wooden boards along.

After they were done with that, Chanyeol together with Jongin and Kyungsoo were invited over for dinner with the Kwak’s. Jongin ate quickly and then left, rushing back home, leaving Chanyeol and Kyungsoo to walk back home together just across the road.

 

“You know, I actually cooked rice for dinner tonight but we ended up eating at the Kwak’s,” Chanyeol pointed out as they arrived at the porch of their house.

It was already dark by then and the light in the porch had been turned on, with a few moths flying around the light source.

“It’s alright. I’ll put it in the fridge and reheat it tomorrow for breakfast,” Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder to smile at Chanyeol as he slid the front doors open.

“Aren’t we going to seal the doors too before the typhoon arrives?” Chanyeol asked, standing in the entryway.

“I’ll do that last,” Kyungsoo replied, taking off his shoes at the entryway, “I’m not going out to sea starting from tomorrow so I have lots more preparation to do.”

“Oh, what will you do?” Chanyeol asked, taking off his own shoes and putting them on the rack beside the door.

“I need to go down to the market to buy non-perishable foods. We need to stock up and the Kwak’s gave me some money to help them get drinking water and food supplies too so I’ll do it at the same time tomorrow. I still need to tow my boat to land too. If there’s anything you need before then, you should get it then too,” Kyungsoo revealed, sitting down on a seat pillow in the living room, turning the television on with the remote.

“Can I help with the preparations?” Chanyeol requested, joining Kyungsoo on the floor in front of the television.

“Sure, if you’re free, why not?” Kyungsoo shrugged one shoulder, looking at Chanyeol and then back at the news broadcast on television.

“This is exciting,” Chanyeol gushed, “I feel like I’m preparing for a survival show or something like that.”

“-a survival show?” Kyungsoo scrunched his nose, looking up toward Chanyeol.

“Yeah, I was invited to go on this survival show once where we camped by the beach and were told to make through the night with whatever supplies were given,” Chanyeol recalled.

“That’s interesting. Was it fun?” Kyungsoo questioned.

“It was fun, except that the entire thing was actually scripted. It would have been more fun if we were allowed to just be spontaneous like the show was advertised to be,” Chanyeol commented, “Don’t be fooled, Kyungsoo. A lot of so-called reality shows are actually scripted and the outcome already decided upon by the producers.”

“I don’t watch those shows so I wouldn’t know,” Kyungsoo giggled “-but I’ll remember that the next time I come across it.”

When Kyungsoo was giggling, his eyes squinted and almost closed, which Chanyeol thought to be rather adorable. Chanyeol caught himself staring and smiling at the same time at Kyungsoo.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol muttered under his breath, feeling like he just needed to say something before turning his face away because he didn’t want Kyungsoo to notice that he may have been staring a bit too hard and too long.

 

 

 

The following morning, two days before the typhoon was expected to make landfall, Chanyeol followed Kyungsoo down to the market area in town where most of the shops and establishments were located at.

For the first time since Chanyeol had been there, he saw the town busy and bustling with people, to and fro. Everyone was just about as busy as they were, preparing and getting supplies for the typhoon season.

The tourists had been sent home and all tours were canceled on the island until further notice. So it was just the residents of the island left to brave the incoming storm. Chanyeol knew he wasn’t a permanent resident of the island but he didn’t even think of leaving at the time, choosing to continue to stay.

 

At the island’s largest store, Chanyeol helped Kyungsoo shop for bottled water, canned food, candles, and extra batteries. They also bought the same for the Kwak’s which they would be delivering to the elderly couple later on.

In the store, there was actually a line at the cashier’s, which was a sight Chanyeol had not experienced since he got there. While waiting in line with Kyungsoo, carrying the baskets of supplies, a television behind the cashier was broadcasting the news and warning the residents of the area on how to prepare for the typhoon.

Chanyeol was actually watching the news intently; listening to what the news reporter was informing through the broadcast as he slowly moved down the line and reminded himself to fully charge his phone before then.

 

 

“Do we still have to stay at your place when the typhoon arrives?” Chanyeol asked, sucking on his lower lip.

“Yeah, it’s far enough inland and has never been a problem. We don’t have to move unless we’re told to,” Kyungsoo answered, reading the expiry date on a can of tuna in their shopping basket.

“Won’t the rice fields near your house flood though?” Chanyeol inquired.

“The crayfish inside would love it though,” Kyungsoo assumed, “The fields do flood and destroy the rice sometimes but the irrigation system won’t let it spill onto the roads.”

“What about your parents’ farm?” Chanyeol continued asking.

“They’re further inland and they have strong structures to prepare for that. They’ll be fine,” Kyungsoo assured, moving slowly down the line to the cashiers.

“So what do you do when you can’t go out to sea?” Chanyeol was curious.

“I just stay home and treat it like a rest day,” Kyungsoo entertained Chanyeol’s questions, “I’m usually alone at home during the typhoon season but this year, I have you so I won’t be too bored I hope.”

“Yeah, of course,” Chanyeol grinned wide, exposing his teeth as he and Kyungsoo exchanged looks at each other down the line at the store.

 

 

 

After the trip to the store, they went over to the Kwak’s and helped the elderly couple to restock their supplies and made final measures to make sure their house was properly secured and ready for the typhoon.

They also made sure to clear their own yard of any things that could fly away during the strong winds such as trash cans and flower pots.

 

In the afternoon- Chanyeol saw that the sky was rather gray and cloudy when it was usually sunny and blue for that time of the year- as he and Kyungsoo drove back down to the dock to haul Kyungsoo’s boat onto land.

Kyungsoo parked at the usual lots near the dock and they waited in the truck for Kyungsoo’s father to arrive. Kyungsoo’s father would help haul his fishing boat onto land every typhoon season.

While they waited in the truck, Chanyeol could see the other fishermen all gathered and busy on the dock, taking turns to haul their boats onto land.

 

The hurricane wasn’t expected for another 36 hours or so but the sea was already noticeable rippling and wavy unlike the calm sea Chanyeol used to see when he was there. The sky was cloudy and the clouds above were visibly moving at a considerable speed.

There was also a moderate breeze that constantly blew from the sea which never stopped or grew weaker as time passed.

 

 

Kyungsoo’s father arrived not long later in a larger truck with a boat trailer affixed to it. Chanyeol wanted to help but he didn’t know what to do and didn’t want to cause trouble because of his inexperience with the matter, so he merely just stood by and watched unless he was told to do something.

They waited a while until the other fishermen were done hauling their boats, taking turns to do so.

Chanyeol wasn’t sure what it was exactly what they were doing. He did see Kyungsoo and the latter’s father hitching down the boat onto the trailer with big hooks and bolts before Kyungsoo’s father slowly drove the truck and hauled the boat completely out of the water.

 

 

“Can you drive my truck all the way to my parent’s house? We’re going to put it in the warehouse with the boat there too,” Kyungsoo requested.

“Sure, I can do that,” Chanyeol nodded, standing beside the dock and the boat standing tall on the trailer.

“Nice, thanks,” Kyungsoo patted Chanyeol on the arm, “You can just follow us if you forgot the way there. We can’t drive that fast anyway.”

“No problem,” Chanyeol happily obliged, feeling the soft touch of Kyungsoo patting him on the arm linger and settle warmly even over his shirt.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile to himself even as the wind grew stronger and large waves began to occasionally lap up against the coastline, spraying him with droplets of salty sea water.

 

 

 

Chanyeol only faintly remembered the turns he had to take to drive down to Kyungsoo’s parent’s house and farm. It wasn’t that hard to catch up with them though, especially with the size of Kyungsoo’s fishing boat towed behind their truck and the slow speed they had to drive with.

Chanyeol had seen people in Seoul towing smaller recreational boats but he had never seen anyone tow a boat of this size, and he was admittedly a bit scared to drive behind one. Chanyeol trusted that they knew what they were doing but he was a bit nervous on a slight incline, scared that the boat would roll away and crash into him.

That never happened though and they arrived at the farm safely.

 

 

Chanyeol parked the truck in the large warehouse behind the house where he was told to and the boat was too parked somewhere nearby.

As Chanyeol had already expected, they couldn’t leave right away because they were invited inside for tea time. Since he was already there, Chanyeol took the opportunity to pat the dogs and play with the puppy which had grown since the last time he was there.

 

Only after they had two meals at Kyungsoo’s parent’s house and were made to bring extra food home, Kyungsoo’s father drove them back to their house in his own truck.

As they were being dropped off, Kyungsoo’s father told both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo to take care and be safe during the typhoon before he left.

 

 

Together, they stood outside the fence on the windy road waving back as Kyungsoo’s father drove off.

“I wonder how bad it’ll be this time,” Kyungsoo muttered to himself, slipping his hands into the pockets of his trousers as he continued standing on the side of the empty road with Chanyeol.

“Huh?” Chanyeol whipped his head to the side to look in Kyungsoo’s direction as the wind continued to blow and ruffle their hair.  

“There’s always some damage no matter how prepared we are for the typhoon,” Kyungsoo informed as he sighed; “All we can do is prepare for it and hope for the best.”

“That sounds tough,” Chanyeol sympathized.

“We’ll see,” Kyungsoo lowered his hand, brushing his hand again on Chanyeol’s bare arm as he walked past, “Let’s go in.”

 

This time, Chanyeol wasn’t sure whether it was the cold wind or something else but he could feel the hairs on his skin stand on end, just from feeling Kyungsoo’s skin brush against his, with the wind blowing all around them.

Chanyeol knew Kyungsoo was just doing it as a friendly gesture, especially now since they had grown closer to each other, but Chanyeol couldn’t help and feel that Kyungsoo was teasing him on purpose.

 

 

 

The next morning, as the hurricane was making its landfall, the strong winds and accompanying rain had already begun to batter down upon the island since last night. The hurricane was expected to be initially strong but would weaken as it passed over land.

As a safety precaution, the water was turned off but the power was still left on unless a flood warning was issued.

The winds howled and the rain could be heard pattering down harshly on the roof and walls outside. They were advised to keep all interior doors closed to contain the pressure in the house, which could be dangerous as the roof could be blown away.

 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo huddled in the living room around the low table in front of the television, keeping it turned on to a news channel for further updates and authority-issued emergency warnings.

To pass the time, Kyungsoo was peeling fruits with a knife at the table and giving them to Chanyeol to eat. Kyungsoo had said that he was worried about the power going out and the fruits in the fridge going bad, so he had wanted to finish all the perishable food before then.

 

 

 

The news broadcast continued to air the storm surge warning near the coast with wind speeds over a hundred kilometers per hour.

Footage of the wind and waves battering against the shore was also aired, together with footage of some boats still in the water on a dock elsewhere.

When Chanyeol saw the boats in the news he was reminded of something he had intended to ask Kyungsoo.

 

“Kyungsoo…” Chanyeol called out to Kyungsoo who was sitting just beside him.

“Hmm?” Kyungsoo hummed in reply, still peeling some fruits which he then placed on a separate plate on the table.

“If you don’t mind me asking; your parents look rather well off with their farming business. So it made me curious that you are a fisherman and not working with them. You did tell me that your father used to be a fisherman too. When did he turn to farming?” Chanyeol barreled Kyungsoo with the questions as splashes of rain could be continuously heard outside.

“That’s a lot of questions,” Kyungsoo chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Well, you don’t have to answer all of them if you don’t want to,” Chanyeol bargained, “I just thought that I wanted to get to know you better.”

“Oh, I’ll answer them alright,” Kyungsoo continued to smile and peel the fruits with a knife, “Yes, my father used to be a fisherman but after my biological mother died when I was fifteen, he decided to go into farming instead. He found out he could make more money like that so he sold his boat and gave up fishing.”

“-but you still became a fisherman though,” Chanyeol scratched his neck, “-even though your family makes more money from farming.”

“I told you I like the sea,” Kyungsoo answered, averting his gaze towards Chanyeol with a soft smile formed on his lips, “There’s just something so serene about being there with just water and nothing surrounding you. It never gets boring even if all I do is just sit and wait for fish to swim into my net. I don’t think I could quite replicate the feeling elsewhere. That’s why I don’t work on my parent’s farm. The boat was actually a gift to me from my parents after I completed my conscription and moved back here. They were supportive of my choice.”

“There are cute dogs on the farm though,” Chanyeol gulped, “I’d have to see what’s so great about being out at sea myself but if that’s what makes you happy, then I’m glad for you.”

“You can come on my boat and go out to sea with me one of these days if you want,” Kyungsoo suggested, making wave motions with his hand.

“Sounds fun but I think I’ll get seasick though, like the last time I was on your boat,” Chanyeol worried.

“You’re just not used to it. It’ll be fine once you are on it for a while,” Kyungsoo patted Chanyeol on the back, encouraging him.

 

When Kyungsoo patted him on the back, Chanyeol was a bit startled by the sudden contact at first. Feeling slightly challenged from how Kyungsoo jumped him with his touches as of late, on top of being in a light mood despite the raging weather outside, Chanyeol giggled mischievously before wrapping his arms around Kyungsoo’s waist and pinning him down to the floor.

“Ah, hyung,” Kyungsoo shrieked like a child as he laughed, pinned down to the floor by the waist.

“-hyung? You never called me that until now. Why the sudden change?” Chanyeol chuckled, holding Kyungsoo down as he tickled the latter on the stomach.

“Well,” Kyungsoo tried hard to speak in between the fits of laughter, “W-when I first saw you in p-person, you looked so young and I-I found it hard to call you hyung.” Kyungsoo stilled, slamming his hand down three times onto the floor as a sign of defeat, “P-please, I give up.”

“I’ll give up only if you keep calling me by my name. I know it’s weird but I like it,” Chanyeol grinned, halting with his tickles assault, burying his face in the back of Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Yes, sure,” Kyungsoo nodded, laughing in between.

“Okay then, we have a deal,” Chanyeol agreed, letting go of Kyungsoo and moving back into a normal sitting position on the floor.

 

As Kyungsoo was getting up and sitting back up too, the lights and the television abruptly switched off.

“There goes the power,” Kyungsoo scrunched his nose, standing up instead.

“What should we do now?” Chanyeol looked to Kyungsoo for answers, checking his phone and relieved to see that he probably had enough battery to last the entire day if he didn’t use it too much.

“It’s still noon so we don’t have to worry about it too much yet. But I don’t think anyone from the power company will be fixing the lines anytime soon, so we might have to brave through one night without electricity,” Kyungsoo surmised.

“So we just have to wait then,” Chanyeol mentioned.

“Yeah, I’ll go take out the candles for when it gets dark,” Kyungsoo said as he padded over the floor to the kitchen.

“Alright,” Chanyeol nodded along to himself, checking his phone and glad to see that there was still some mobile internet connection for now, so he could do something at least even without electricity.

 

 

 

Chanyeol eventually got bored of playing games on his phone and wanted to conserve the battery too. He ended up dozing off in the living room while Kyungsoo was reading a book with the aid of a flashlight

Chanyeol was awoken sometime later by Kyungsoo, shaking him lightly on the shoulder. By then, the power had returned and Chanyeol knew that when he saw the lights and television turned on in the living room.

“Huh? What time is it?” Chanyeol opened his eyes, lifting his head from the pillow as he had been napping on the living room floor. Chanyeol noticed how it sounded calm and quiet outside and then asked, “Is the storm over?”

“It’s about five in the evening and no the storm hasn’t passed yet. We’re actually in the eye of the storm now. I wanted you to come and take a look at it before it starts up again,” Kyungsoo told, moving towards the door and sliding it open to reveal a rather bright atmosphere outside.

 

Chanyeol stirred to being fully awake again quite fast, rather curious to see no rain or strong winds blowing even when the typhoon had not fully passed yet.

Kyungsoo had removed the sandbags he had put to barricade the door so they could go outside. Kyungsoo stepped out from the porch and into the small front yard, where he pointed over the fence towards the sky.

 

 

Chanyeol followed Kyungsoo outside, slipping into some slippers before stepping out from the porch. The ground was still wet and there were several puddles on it. There was also a cool, moist and misty feeling to the air around them.

“Oh wow,” Chanyeol exclaimed, looking at where Kyungsoo was pointing at.

It was Chanyeol’s first time experiencing being in the eye of the typhoon, where it was calm compared to the turbulent storm outside.

The grayish white clouds extended from the ground up to the sky. Where they were at in the eye of the typhoon, it was clear and there were no clouds overhead except the circular ring of clouds that seemed to enclose and surround the entire area they were in.

“It’s kind of scary actually,” Chanyeol noted, “It feels so calm inside here despite how violent it is outside beyond the wall of clouds.”

“Nature is scary indeed,” Kyungsoo chimed in.

 

Chanyeol looked at Kyungsoo and then back up the sky as he thought of how he could write lyrics to a song regarding the temporary moment of calm within a hard time, even when knowing that the hard times were not over yet and coming back again.

Somehow, the situation reminded Chanyeol of what he was personally going through too. He had run out of a tough situation after the plagiarizing scandal came to light. Here in Jindo Island, where everything was uneventful and hardly anyone knew about him, Chanyeol had his temporary calm before he would eventually have to return to the figurative storm that was in Seoul. 

 

 

“We can’t stay out here for long. It’s about to get rough again,” Kyungsoo warned.

“Hold on a second. Let me do just one thing first,” Chanyeol went back into the house to grab his phone and take pictures of the wall of clouds in the distance.

Once he was done taking enough pictures, they were about to head back into the house and seal the door up again when Chanyeol heard faint, barely audible whimpering sounds coming from below the porch.

The sounds were unmistakenly that of a dog and Chanyeol surely had to take a look, confirming that it was a dog underneath their porch indeed.

 

“Kyungsoo, there’s a dog under our porch!” Chanyeol exclaimed, alerting Kyungsoo who was already in the house.

“What!?” Kyungsoo blurted out, surprised, “-a dog?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol iterated, “What do we do? We can’t just leave it out here with the storm approaching again. It looks all wet and muddy.”

“Try and see if you can get it in the house. Be quick, I’ll go get some towels,” Kyungsoo then darted off to the kitchen to look for spare rags they could use.

 

 

Chanyeol crouched to the ground and attempted to talk to the dog, holding out his hand and coaxing it to come out of hiding. The dog continued to whimper and was scared initially but eventually came up to sniff Chanyeol’s hand and move closer towards him.

“Come, just a little closer,” Chanyeol spoke softly, not wanting to scare the dog.

The dog crawled out of the porch and once its head was sticking out, the dog immediately jumped out from under the porch and into the house, leaving a trail of mud and dirt in its path.

 

The dog ran into the house as Chanyeol chased after it and tried to contain the animal while Kyungsoo shut the door back again before sealing it up with sandbags and the extra lock, securing the door for the winds that were slowly picking up again.

The dog appeared to be a regular Jindo breed dog common to the island. It also seemed to warm up fast to Chanyeol, seemingly grateful from being rescued from the storm, evident by how wet and soiled its fur was.

While Kyungsoo was sealing the door again, Chanyeol was wiping the dog off with the towel Kyungsoo had handed him.

 

“That definitely looks like Mr. Jang’s dog,” Kyungsoo scrutinized, going to take another towel to wipe the stains on the floor with.

“How did he get under our porch though?” Chanyeol continued wiping their neighbor’s dog that seemed well-behaved and trained.

“I have no idea how he escaped. We’ll return him once the storm is over. It’s too risky to go back out now,” Kyungsoo voiced out, “The dog can stay here until then. I guess we can feed it some of the canned food for the time being. I might as well make dinner now since we have power for the time being.”

“Yeah, I should charge my phone too,” Chanyeol got up to return to his room, with the dog following him. Chanyeol patted the dog on the head, smiling and letting it follow him.

 

 

 

Chanyeol closed the door to his room while Kyungsoo was cooking in the kitchen, locking the dog inside the room with him.

Chanyeol was on his computer for a while with the dog sniffing the furniture and things around in his room, even his feet sometimes. At the same time, Kyungsoo was in the kitchen cooking a quick dinner, trying to use up all the perishable food at the same time.

 

“Alright, fine. We’ll go eat now,” Chanyeol gave in when the dog began sniffing his small trash bin, which Chanyeol knew to contain the packaging of his junk food and snacks.

Despite knowing animals probably did not understand him, he still was the type to talk to animals and have one-sided conservation with them.

 

 

In just less than fifteen minutes, Kyungsoo had already finished cooking two plates of fried rice with chicken and vegetables in it- ready for the both of them.

By then, the typhoon winds were picking up in strength and heard howling again outside, accompanied by the sounds of rainwater splattering against their walls and the roof.

 

Chanyeol helped to carry the plates to the table in the living room while the dog was wagging its tail and waiting beside Kyungsoo, who was trying to open a can of tuna to feed to the dog since it was the only thing he could think of to give to an animal. 

As Kyungsoo was pulling the ring to open the can with, he accidentally scratched the side of his finger on the sharp rim of the lid.

 

“Ouch,” Kyungsoo hissed from the stinging pain, stomping his foot down and retracting his hands away from the can on the kitchen counter.

Chanyeol popped into the kitchen, overhearing the commotion, “What’s wrong?”

“I cut my finger,” Kyungsoo gritted his teeth, quickly grabbing napkins to wipe the blood away with, “Can you pour the tuna into a bowl and give it to the dog? I need to wash my hand.”

“Is it alright?” Chanyeol approached, wincing from even the sight of it.

“I know the can is clean and sterile. It’s not a fishing hook so I don’t worry too much,” Kyungsoo said, pouring a bottle of drinking water onto his injured hand over the sink.

“You should let me open cans next time. I may cut myself on fishing hooks but I think I might be better with cans of food,” Chanyeol light-heartedly mentioned, grabbing a plastic bowl from the shelf and then pouring the contents of the can into it.

Kyungsoo chuckled, standing at the edge of the sink, “Maybe.”

 

 

 

The typhoon continued to rage on and batter down on the island, although it was weakening fast as it made its path over land. The news reported that by the next morning, it would have settled down and would probably be safe to go outside, although all activity out on sea was still halted until further notice.

Fortunately, there were no more power outages and they continued to have electricity through the rest of the evening and into the night.

 

Kyungsoo had laid out an old unused t-shirt on the kitchen floor for the dog to sleep on, with a bowl of water by its side.

In the meantime, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol remained in the living room with the television turned on for the latest updates regarding the weather. Jongin had called Chanyeol an hour ago, asking on behalf of their parents regarding how they were holding up because there were reports of flooding on some parts of the island.

After assuring everyone that they were alright and that their area was unaffected, Kyungsoo took a quick bath with the pail of water he had collected from when the typhoon warning was first issued. Kyungsoo made sure to leave another pail of water for Chanyeol too.

 

 

After the bath, Kyungsoo returned to the low table in the living room with a first-aid kit, where the television remained turned on and Chanyeol was checking his phone occasionally.

Kyungsoo sat at the table beside Chanyeol, taking out the band-aids and alcohol wipes from the first-aid kit box.

“Do you need help with that?” Chanyeol initiated, observing as Kyungsoo was wiping his no longer bleeding wound with the alcohol wipes.

“Yeah, let me clean it off first. Can you help me wrap the band-aid and make sure it goes directly over where I got cut?” Kyungsoo requested.

“Of course,” Chanyeol complied, happily peeling the sticker covering off the band-aid and holding it by the ends, ready to do as told.

 

When Kyungsoo gave him the cue, Chanyeol carefully wrapped the band-aid on the wound and made sure it was settled properly to avoid coming loose.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo muttered.

“Can you go fishing like that though?” Chanyeol pondered.

“It’s just a surface wound, it hurts now but it’s not bad. I’m sure it’ll be fine once I start working again,” Kyungsoo told.

“You know, when I was a child, I used to get hurt a lot too because I often tripped and fell in the park while playing with my sister.  I would cry a lot because it hurts. When we got home, after my mother cleaned up the wound, she would blow kisses on it and said that it would help us get better,” Chanyeol smiled as he recalled the memory.

“That sounds cute,” Kyungsoo smiled along.

“It was,” Chanyeol acknowledged, gently taking Kyungsoo’s hand with the injured finger into his own, “Do you want me to blow kisses on it too?”

Kyungsoo flustered, feeling squeamish and the heat rising to his cheeks all of a sudden, “Uh…what? Y-you know that doesn’t really work. It's just a thing adults say to make children feel better.”

“Oh, I know,” Chanyeol grinned, holding Kyungsoo’s fingers quite close to his lips already.

 

 

Kyungsoo’s eyes were wide and round in embarrassment. Somehow, he wanted it to happen and not happen all at the same time. Not knowing how to react, especially when Chanyeol began puckering his lips, Kyungsoo pressed his palm into Chanyeol’s face, stopping it from ever happening.

Chanyeol was still determined to do it despite Kyungsoo’s reluctance. With Kyungsoo’s hand pressed against his face, Chanyeol tugged on Kyungsoo’s forearm, bringing Kyungsoo closer to him.

Kyungsoo stumbled forward by the sudden tug, almost falling over into Chanyeol, but managing to catch himself by gripping onto the edge of the table just before that happened.

 

Kyungsoo found himself in an even awkward position than before. His and Chanyeol’s face was just inches away from each other, so close that they could feel each other’s breaths on their skin.

Chanyeol was still holding Kyungsoo on the arm with the injured hand, the said arm held up to his side at face level. Kyungsoo wasn’t going anywhere because of that.

They didn’t exchange any words but it wasn’t too hard to tell what was going on without the words to say it.

 

 

When Chanyeol closed his eyes and tilted his face, moving in closer, Kyungsoo’s heart raced and he immediately closed his eyes too not knowing what to expect, although he did think that Chanyeol was about to kiss him.

But before that could even happen, the dog came running from the kitchen and pressed its wet nose between the both of them, pushing them apart.

The dog was wagging its tail, looking excited and happy at both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.

 

Kyungsoo patted the dog and wondered if it wanted to eat again. Kyungsoo got up to find some more food for the dog to eat, leaving Chanyeol in the living room without even saying a word about what had happened between them.

Chanyeol was indeed going in for the kiss but he wasn’t too bummed out that it hadn’t happened yet. Chanyeol continued to smile to himself, cupping a hand to the lower part of his face.

 

 


	7. Of Passing's and Resolve

 

The storm that the typhoon brought along settled down in less than two days and it was declared by local officials to be safe enough to resume outdoor activities again. Although, all activities taking place at sea which included fishing was still halted for a few more days.

The dog they found under their porch was promptly returned to its rightful owner and Kyungsoo also made sure to visit every one of his neighbors to make sure they were doing alright.

 

The day after the storm had passed and when it was safe to go out again, Kyungsoo picked up his truck from his parent’s warehouse and drove all the way down to the dock with Chanyeol to inspect the condition after the typhoon.

                         

 

When they arrived at the market center down by the dock, Chanyeol could see people cleaning up the mud and debris from the front of their shops and establishments. There were also people picking up the trash that had been blown and littered around the streets because of the strong wind.

Others were fixing up the damage, putting blown away objects where they belonged and simply just cleaning up after such a natural disaster.

The usual dogs roaming around the area were seen playing, following the humans around.

 

It had only been a day since the storm passed and sometimes in a single summer, there could be up to several typhoons that would develop and pass over the island. However, despite knowing that, the people of Jindo Island quickly returned back to their normal lives.

 

 

 

The dock had survived the typhoon as it was built to be resistant to such an occurrence. However, not all of the boats docked there had been towed to land before the typhoon. Some of the boat owners and fishermen had decided to try out their luck and tied their boats down, leaving it in the water during the typhoon.

Those who were lucky still found their boats there once the storm passed. The unlucky ones found their boats smashed into others, overturned or blown all the way to land. The unluckier ones weren’t even able to find their boats at all.

Not all fishermen like Kyungsoo could afford to have their boats towed and stored on land. Transporting a boat was hard enough, finding a place to store it in during a typhoon was even harder.

 

 

Kyungsoo walked down the dock, approaching a group of his fellow fishermen who were gathered in a circle, huddled around other as they seemed to be discussing something.

After a typhoon, warmer weather was usual and although it was rather cloudy that morning, it was already very warm as predicted.

 

 

While Kyungsoo went up to talk to the fishermen, Chanyeol sat on the dock with his feet hanging and swinging above the water level below. Occasionally, Chanyeol looked towards the fishermen to find Kyungsoo shaking and nodding his head along to their conversation.

Chanyeol could not hear their conversation from where he was at but he’d just ask Kyungsoo about it later on anyway. Chanyeol assumed they were just talking about repairs, boats, fishes and whatever fishermen talked about that he knew nothing of.

Chanyeol recognized the two fishermen who had helped pulled him out of the water that day when he fell into the sea. They seemed to remember Chanyeol too and waved to say hi when they noticed him. Chanyeol was actually hoping that they wouldn’t remember him because he was still embarrassed to even recall that incident.

 

Chanyeol had expected the dock to be cool and windy as per usual, so he could cool off some of the summer heat. However, there was barely even a wind if any at all. Chanyeol was already beginning to sweat and was thankful that at least it wasn’t sunny because that would have made things a lot worse.

Chanyeol thought of waiting in the truck but he didn’t want to seem rude and leave Kyungsoo behind there, especially when he said he’d wait.

                                                 

 

 

To pass the time, Chanyeol played some games on his phone and sometimes looked around the dock, feeling bad for whichever person owned the damaged boats in the water. Chanyeol knew nothing about boats but he was sure they didn’t come cheap.

Out of curiosity, Chanyeol actually looked up fishing boat prices on his phone and gawked in horror to find out that one the size of what Kyungsoo owned could cost up to a billion won. Chanyeol made about the same amount of money in a year as a music producer but he was still shocked to know that fishing boats were actually that expensive.

It really didn’t appear like it because they lived rather simple lives but Kyungsoo and his family were actually very well to do. It was Chanyeol who had been deluded by the stereotypes that farmers and fishermen were all actually poor country bumpkins who struggled to make a living.

 

 

Chanyeol continued scrolling through the online fishing vessels price listing, actually gasping out loud when he saw one going for over 60 billion won. Chanyeol would understand if it was a yacht or a luxury boat but it was just a fishing boat and already going for that price.

“Why are you looking up boats? Interested to become a fisherman too?” Kyungsoo chuckled, folding his arms below his chest as he stood behind Chanyeol, looking at the phone screen from over Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Oh! Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol exclaimed upon hearing Kyungsoo behind him. Chanyeol stood up quickly and turned around to face Kyungsoo, “I was just curious to know how much fishing boats cost so I looked it up.”

“Well, you can get a small boat for the price of a car if you’re that interested,” Kyungsoo informed.

“I wouldn’t have the space to put one. I live in an apartment in Seoul,” Chanyeol pointed out.

Kyungsoo snickered, “You can leave it here then but that means you would have to come and visit here regularly.”

 

 

Seeing Kyungsoo smile, Chanyeol was reminded of something else; of his attempt to kiss Kyungsoo while they were basically grounded at home because of the typhoon. Neither any of them brought it up since then nor Kyungsoo still wondered if Chanyeol was really going to kiss him at the time.

They had been busy since then too and had not managed to properly talk about it either. Seeing that they were free now, Chanyeol thought that it would maybe be a good idea to talk about it now.

Chanyeol was wrong about his timing though. Just as he was about to say something, Kyungsoo stopped him with the sentence that quickly halted his intentions.

 

“Someone died during the typhoon actually,” Kyungsoo mentioned solemnly, his cheerful tone from earlier dropping, “He was a fisherman like us too. We were just talking about it and planning to go to his wake and funeral.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Chanyeol expressed, “Was he a friend of yours?”

“I knew the guy,” Kyungsoo answered, “-we weren’t close but we all know each other around here. So yeah, you can say he was a friend.”

“How did he die?” Chanyeol asked.

“He went outside during the typhoon and was swept away by the storm surge. They found his body down by the rocks near the shore a few hours ago,” Kyungsoo replied, adding, “He shouldn’t have done that but what’s done is done.”

“Ouch, that must have been a painful way to go,” Chanyeol commented.

“Yeah, I couldn’t imagine,” Kyungsoo agreed.

“So what should we do now?” Chanyeol cautiously asked, being sensitive to the situation.

Kyungsoo informed, “The deceased had no family so the town council will be responsible for overseeing the arrangements. We only have one funeral home on the island so the ceremony will be held there tomorrow followed by the cremation. For now, we’ll do what we can do to fix up the dock.”

“Okay, sure, is there anything I can help you with then?” Chanyeol offered his assistance.

“Well, can you fix a boat?” Kyungsoo questioned despite knowing the answer to it, not wanting Chanyeol to feel excluded nonetheless.

“Not at all,” Chanyeol shook his head, admitting defeat already.

“That’s alright then,” Kyungsoo assured, then suggesting, “You can move stuff around if that’s alright with you?”

“Sure, I can do that. Just let me know what to do,” Chanyeol complied.

 

 

Chanyeol followed Kyungsoo down to the dock where one of the larger fishing boats was floating at, one which Chanyeol saw online to have a price up to ten billion won.

Kyungsoo brought Chanyeol onto the boat and introduced him to the man who owned the boat. On the large boat, there was a supply of tools and equipment to fix up the boats and boathouses damaged during the typhoon.

 

Chanyeol’s task was to help carry the tools off the boat and to where the repairs were taking place on the dock. From there on, he was further instructed by the fishermen to do other things such as help them hold up nails while they hammered away. Chanyeol was even told by one fisherman to help paint some wooden planks with a special paint that was said to make it waterproof.

 

 

In the midst of painting or helping move a box onto another boat, Chanyeol started to wonder how he had been roped into what he was currently doing.

He could have been at home alone without the distraction, writing and recording a new song. But instead, he was doing something that wasn’t actually contributing to the reason he came onto Jindo Island, which was to find inspiration to produce an original hit song.

Chanyeol continued on with the chores he was told do because he wasn’t one to quit halfway. Furthermore, he still had a month-and-a-half left on the island anyway, which he thought was enough time to pump out one more song at least.

 

 

While Chanyeol was squatting somewhere on the dock with a paintbrush in his hand, trying to make sure the coat of paint on the wooden planks were even, he often looked to see what Kyungsoo was up to.

Whenever Chanyeol laid his eyes on Kyungsoo he would smile to himself before resuming at what he was doing. The time would come for him to finally address how he was starting to feel for Kyungsoo. Now just wasn’t the right time yet.

 

In the midst of his thoughts about how Kyungsoo looked cute and attractive at the same time when he was fishing or just talking about it, Chanyeol unconsciously started painting the wooden planks with Kyungsoo’s name on it.

When Chanyeol realized that, he had to quickly paint over it with another coat of paint, which ended up making the final look sloppy, messy and very obviously painted over.

Lucky for Chanyeol, the fisherman who had assigned him the task didn’t seem to notice or mind it, thanking Chanyeol profusely for helping out. They understood that it was not something Chanyeol was good at or used to doing.

Either way, it was better than someone in the future questioning why “Do Kyungsoo” was painted on a wooden boat somewhere.

 

 

 

 

In the evening, when they were finally home after a long day doing repairs around the dock, Chanyeol was holed up in his room doing work he missed out on that day.

Chanyeol only locked the door to his room when he was asleep but usually left it unlocked it when he was awake, which was why Kyungsoo was able to barge into his room unannounced.

  
Chanyeol was startled to hear Kyungsoo asking him a question because he didn’t hear the door open. Chanyeol exhaled after being startled, relieved to see that it was just Kyungsoo.

 

“Chanyeol, the funeral is at ten in the morning tomorrow but we’re leaving by nine,” Kyungsoo informed, “Do you have anything to wear to the funeral? I don’t think my clothes can fit you but if you don’t have anything, I can go borrow something from someone your size.”

“I didn’t bring my suit here but I have a shirt and trousers I can wear. Is that okay?” Chanyeol asked, turning his head over his shoulder from where he was seated on the chair in front of his computer. 

“I’ll go borrow a suit from someone then,” Kyungsoo announced, rubbing a finger on his chin as he was deep in thought, thinking about someone whose clothes might fit Chanyeol.

“Oh, should I go with you?” Chanyeol pondered, “I mean, we need to make sure it fits, right?”

“It’s alright, you can stay at home and continue working on your music,” Kyungsoo then laughed, throwing his head back, “I’ve been borrowing you for the whole day and making you do things you’re not used to. I’m sorry for laughing but I just thought it was hilarious. So I think you can just stay at home while I go find a suit. I won’t be long.”

“-so you’re guilty as charged,” Chanyeol teased, “Here I was thinking that you didn’t realize that you’ve been distracting me from my work.”

“I was aware of it indeed,” Kyungsoo admitted cheekily, giggling in the doorway of Chanyeol’s room, “I’ll bring you somewhere nice to make up for it though.”

“Looks like I’ll have to punish you with tickles then,” Chanyeol continued the banter, rising up from his chair with his fingers stretched out in front and wiggling.

Kyungsoo surrendered, backing away from the door and Chanyeol in fits of laughter, “No, hyung.”

Chanyeol stood in the doorway of his room when he arrived there, with Kyungsoo already in the living room still laughing and trying to avoid being tickled.

Chanyeol snickered, shaking his head and pressing some fingers to his face, “I’m not sure if I’m starting to like it when you slip up and accidentally call me hyung.”

“Well, if you want to feel young, you can call me hyung instead,” Kyungsoo lightly mentioned, feeling in a rather jovial mood.

“Nah, let’s just keep it the way it is,” Chanyeol decided, “I like it this way.”

 

 

 

After Kyungsoo left in his truck to go borrow a suit from someone, Chanyeol thought of waiting up for Kyungsoo to return.

Chanyeol was, however, more tired than usual that evening and fell asleep earlier than when he normally went to bed. 

 

When Chanyeol woke up the next morning, Kyungsoo handed him the already pressed suit, which Kyungsoo had apparently borrowed from one of the fisherman’s sons who was said to be around the same height and built like Chanyeol.

Chanyeol fixed his hair and wore the best pair of shoes he brought with him to the island. Chanyeol didn’t think he’d need the shoes when he was packing before coming to Jindo Island, but he did so anyway. Chanyeol was thanking his past self for doing that now.

 

 

As they were preparing to leave, Chanyeol actually froze in the midst of tying his tie in the living room when Kyungsoo stepped out of his own room fully dressed in his suit.

Chanyeol knew it was meant for a somber event but he couldn’t help find Kyungsoo much more attractive when dressed in formal wear. The clothes really suited Kyungsoo so much that Chanyeol even asked to take a picture together before leaving the house.

Kyungsoo happily obliged to take the picture and Chanyeol promised he wouldn’t post it online or anywhere, respecting Kyungsoo’s privacy. In fact, Chanyeol was starting to feel some sort of irritation when he thought of others feeling about Kyungsoo the same way he did.

Not that Chanyeol was entirely sure of what it is he felt about Kyungsoo. He knew he felt something but somehow he still wasn’t able to put an exact name or description to it yet.

 

 

 

The island’s only funeral home was located between empty grass fields towards the left and right of the building. It was rather isolated and nearer to the base of the mountain range that ran across Jindo Island.

There were ample parking spaces provided by the funeral home right within the compound where Kyungsoo parked the truck at, among the vehicles of the other people attending the funeral.

 

At the funeral home’s reception desk, Kyungsoo met up with his parents who were also there to attend the funeral. Jongin wasn’t able to come as he was currently at school at the time.

Chanyeol picked up a white envelope from the reception disk and wrote his name down on it before putting in the obligatory 50,000 won note inside and then dropping it into the designated box. 

Chanyeol was then asked to come along with Kyungsoo and his parents to pay respects at the altar together. Chanyeol asked if that was okay because he wasn’t a member of their family but they assured him it was alright to do so.

 

 

 

After that, Kyungsoo and his parents chose to stay on in the mourning room together with the chief mourners, who were the neighbors and close friends of the deceased.

Chanyeol didn’t know the deceased and didn’t want to feel like he was intruding. Therefore, he chose to carry on to the dining hall of the funeral home, where light refreshments and alcohol were being served to the attendees.

 

Chanyeol didn’t drink the soju but he did eat some of the kimchi and fruits that were being served, before moving outside the dining hall and sitting on one of the benches in the hallway of the funeral home.

Chanyeol loosened his tie and while he waited, he watched as people came quietly in and out of the mourning room. There were quite a number of people that attended despite the deceased not having any known living family members.

Knowing of that fact, the people of the island took the responsibility to arrange and oversee the funeral, making sure the deceased was given a proper send off. Chanyeol wondered how comforting it must be to live in such a community where everyone looked out for one another, knowing that one was never alone in a time of need.

 

 

When Chanyeol thought about it, he was reminded of his family whom he had been sparsely in contact with since the plagiarizing scandal. Chanyeol didn’t want to talk about his scandal yet and knowing they’d want to know about it, he had avoided them on purpose.

Now that he was physically far away from them, it was even easier to ignore their calls and texts. Some days, he even totally forgotten about them because he had been so caught up with trying to make new music.

 

Chanyeol felt bad and embarrassed at what he had been doing, so much that he felt like running away to the mountains on the island and hiding there for all of eternity. But Chanyeol realized that no matter how far he ran or how well he hid, the feeling of guilt would always find him.

Chanyeol pressed both hands to his face and felt like screaming into his palms in the middle of everyone else there for the funeral, not caring if he was going to create a scene or embarrass himself.

 

 

But instead of doing that, Chanyeol walked outside the funeral home to make a phone call. Chanyeol texted his sister asking when she’d be free to talk, knowing that she was probably at work.

After that, Chanyeol then called his parents, whom he knew would be home and free at that time of the day, since they were already retired. 

 

Chanyeol talked to his parents for a while over the phone; smiling and laughing along at hearing them tell him about things that happened while he was away.

When they asked him questions about how he was doing, Chanyeol answered them honestly and told his parents about Kyungsoo, Jongin and all the other people he had met on Jindo Island. Chanyeol promised to send them pictures he took of the places on the island.

Chanyeol was afraid they’d ask him about the scandal and what he planned to do after that but they never did. Chanyeol’s parents only seemed to want to know about him and his life on the island so far.

Things appeared to be a bit better than what Chanyeol thought, although he couldn’t say the same when it came to his career and record label.

 

 

 

Chanyeol ended up waiting several mo hours for Kyungsoo at the funeral home, where he even managed to talk to his sister who had the free time to call him back in between.

Kyungsoo did apologize for making Chanyeol wait so long and promised to promptly drive him back home so he could work on his music.

 

Chanyeol assured that it was fine and that he didn’t really want to go home yet that day, wanting to go anywhere Kyungsoo would be going to.

Chanyeol didn’t know what it is he felt but there was this strong feeling of emptiness in his heart that wouldn’t go away, especially after attending such a solemn event like the funeral, even when he didn’t know nor had any attachments to the deceased.

The reason why Chanyeol felt that way was probably because it reminded him of any lingering guilt and unresolved feelings he had.

Feeling in such a way, Chanyeol didn’t want to be left alone and went down to the dock with Kyungsoo, while still dressed in their formal suits from the funeral.

 

 

Kyungsoo was checking up on the repairs taking place at the dock, even though his own boat was completely fine and undamaged, still in the warehouse at his parent’s farm.

This time, Chanyeol went along and accompanied Kyungsoo, instead of sitting down and waiting elsewhere.

Although it was still warm that afternoon, the skies above had been cloudy since the typhoon had passed, making it not too uncomfortable to be walking around in such weather while dressed in suits. The cool sea breeze had also seemed to return, constantly blowing from over the water and onto land.

 

Chanyeol kept quiet and overheard the conversation Kyungsoo was having with the other fishermen. They were discussing how their fishing activities would be impacted for a while;  whatnot with the damaged boats, the still imposed restriction on going to sea and the lack of fish in the area after a typhoon.

But despite everything hindering them, Chanyeol noticed how they all kept their heads up and persevered, remaining prospectful towards the future despite the shortcomings they had just faced and had probably been through a lot of times in the past. 

After all, if they gave up after just one typhoon season, the fishing business on Jindo Island wouldn’t have flourished and continued until this day.

 

 

 

Chanyeol had been too far off drifting in his own thoughts, thinking about his problems, to not notice that Kyungsoo was actually ready to leave.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo called out, gently holding onto Chanyeol’s forearm to catch his attention.

Chanyeol was snapped out of his daze and turned to look at Kyungsoo standing right beside him. “Yeah?” Chanyeol muttered.

“Are you alright? You look so sad,” Kyungsoo inquired, “Is something wrong?”

“I-I’m fine,” Chanyeol stuttered through the first few words, “I just feel a bit down. That’s it.”

“What’s wrong? Do you want to talk about it? I’ll listen,” Kyungsoo spoke softly, doe eyes fluttering upwards to meet Chanyeol’s. Kyungsoo continued holding onto Chanyeol’s forearm, comfortingly rubbing his thumb in circles over the sleeve of the suit.

Chanyeol still struggled to articulate his thoughts, “I-I don’t know. I just started feeling this way all of sudden, like something’s wrong…but I just don’t know what it is exactly. I think it has something to do with my work.”

“You don’t need to have the answers to everything all at one time,” Kyungsoo reasoned, “It’s alright to not know some things. You can always figure it out later on too.”

“You think so?” Chanyeol muttered as a rather strong breeze blew out from the sea, roaring in their ears and ruffling their hair and clothes as it passed through.

“Well, I’m pretty sure of it,” Kyungsoo replied.

“I hope you’re right,” Chanyeol expressed; reciprocating the contact Kyungsoo made by resting his hand against the latter’s other forearm.

“So, are you having a problem finding inspiration to write a new song? I can help with that if you want. I can show you some places around which you’ve never been to,” Kyungsoo gleefully offered.

“It’s not that,” Chanyeol corrected, “I think I’m good with the flow of inspiration. I believe that how I feel now has something more to do with my past mistakes.”

“-the part about you stealing a song from a lesser-known songwriter, which I heard about from Jongin?” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow as he posed the question.

“Yeah, that one,” Chanyeol admitted.

“Well, you did realize you made a mistake and are trying to fix it now. So, what about it?” Kyungsoo continued to ask.

With a sigh, Chanyeol responded, “I feel disappointed in myself, to be honest. I bail at the first signs of hardship and struggle, which is why I ended up here in the first place. I never dealt with that and now it’s coming back to haunt me. What’s worse is, I feel like I’ve been through this exact same conversation with you but nothing has changed since then.”

“I don’t think we’ve been through this conversation before though,” Kyungsoo tried to remember.

“Wait, we haven’t?” Chanyeol was a bit taken aback.

“No, we haven’t,” Kyungsoo affirmed, shaking his head left and right.

“Oh, I see,” Chanyeol realized, clicking his tongue.

“I’m sorry you feel that way though,” Kyungsoo continued to rub Chanyeol’s forearm reassuringly, “Is there anything I can help you with? I know I’m just a fisherman and not a counselor but I’ll listen if you want.”

Chanyeol sighed again, tilting his head up to look at the sky as he gulped and then returned to face Kyungsoo again, “I don’t know, Kyungsoo. I really don’t know what to do now. I’m so lost.”

“You don’t have to do force it if you don’t have an answer yet. The time will come, you just need to be patient,” Kyungsoo advised.

“Patience, huh?” Chanyeol reiterated, “-I guess if I had been a fisherman like you, I would know a thing or two about patience when I have to wait that long for a fish.”

“So do you want to go rod fishing by the pier then?” Kyungsoo asked with a bright smile on his face, with his childlike excitement at the prospect of doing his favorite activity.

“You can surely find an excuse to fit fishing into any situation, don’t you?” Chanyeol chuckled, “Let’s go fishing then. I don’t really want to go home yet anyway.”

 

 

 

Because Kyungsoo’s boat was still in his parent’s warehouse and had not been towed back to sea, Kyungsoo ended up borrowing two fishing rods and some equipment from another fisherman on the dock.

It was only Chanyeol’s third time fishing with a rod but he had gotten rather used to the hang of things. He knew the basics of how to set up a rod, attaching the bait, casting the line into the water and then reeling up the catch.

 

Still dressed in their black suits, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo sat at the edge of the pier, with their feet hanging above the water as they held the fishing rods and waited for a catch.

They were quiet most of the time and spoke sparsely. Kyungsoo was used to this silence and Chanyeol was still getting used to the idea of sitting and doing nothing for hours. There were times when Chanyeol felt restless and thought that maybe it would have been better to go home after all.

 

“Hey, Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol spoke up, breaking the silence, his shoulders hunched forward as he continued to hold onto the fishing rod.         

“Yeah?” Kyungsoo responded, turning to look at Chanyeol sitting beside him.

“Do you make a lot of money as a fisherman?” Chanyeol questioned, looking in Kyungsoo’s direction now.

“I don’t know if I make a lot, to be honest. I just know it’s enough to get by and where I would still have enough funds for emergencies or whatnot. I know I could make more if I spent a few nights out at sea like some of the fishermen do but I like to come home every day before the sun sets,” Kyungsoo added, “Why do you want to know? Interested in becoming a commercial fisherman too?”

“I won’t lie but I actually considered it when I felt that things were starting to get hard for me,” Chanyeol confessed, “I even had this wild thought of permanently staying here and changing my identity so I could escape it all. I thought it wouldn’t be too bad because I’d have you here.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “You’re funny, Chanyeol.”

“…I don’t know about that,” Chanyeol shrugged, “-but if I were to do that, I need to make sure all my affairs in Seoul are settled and taken care of first. Sometimes, I wish I could just be like you guys here.”

“Why is that so?” Kyungsoo asked, swinging his feet over the water.

“I actually admire the resolve and perseverance you people have. Even when times are hard, you get through it and keep moving forward no matter how hard it hits you because you just don’t give up,” Chanyeol sighed.

“If you think it’s like that then you can be like us too!” Kyungsoo confidently exclaimed.

“Can I?” Chanyeol repeated after Kyungsoo.

“Who says you can’t?” Kyungsoo said with a smile.

“Yeah, I think I can try,” Chanyeol seemed to agree too, smiling back

 

 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo continued fishing by the pier until it was almost sunset. They only caught two fishes, one each, which they later gave away to their neighbors because neither one of them felt like eating fish that day.

As they were packing up and getting ready to leave, Chanyeol looked out to the setting sun near the horizon once more. The sky was orange and tinged with purple streaks where the sea met the sky. Beyond that, the sky was already a dark blue and a few stars could already be seen outside.

It was windy as usual and the breeze felt warmer when it was dark outside. Chanyeol hadn’t been too confident about his skills in making music as of late but he knew he was right about one thing though; that the island was indeed a good place for him to be in such a period of his life.                                                                      

Chanyeol was glad he had chosen to run away here, especially when he saw Kyungsoo waving at him to hurry up from the end of the pier.

 

 

 

 

Over the course of the next week, Chanyeol worked on rewriting and rearranging “Hero”, the first song he had finished composing since he moved to the island. Chanyeol completely reworked the lyrics to “Hero” but still maintained the instrumental sample, although its aspect was reduced in the final song.

On top of that, Chanyeol also began on a draft for a third song which was inspired by his recent experiences and feeling while on the island.

 

While working with the music producing software on his computer, Chanyeol had this habit to open his internet browser to check the news and his social media sites- every now and then.

Unable to resist the temptation, Chanyeol decided to go onto online portals and search up his songwriting penname, LOEY, wanting to see what new topics were being discussed about him.

 

 

Fortunately for Chanyeol, the plagiarizing scandal had died down and there were barely any active or recent discussions regarding it, although it was still talked about to a smaller degree. The general public was more interested in new idol group debuts, recent comebacks or the ongoing scandals of other idols.

Chanyeol was actually a bit thankful that he chose to stay on with his music producing career instead of becoming an idol, because an idol’s scandal was usually more heavily publicized and discussed.

 

 

Chanyeol had been avoiding checking his direct messages on social media because he was afraid of what he might see in there. Sometimes, the thought of it actually made him anxious and wanting to put a rest to that once and for all, Chanyeol checked his Instagram messages for the first time in a while.

Chanyeol was hoping one of the CBX members would reply to his messages or maybe start to follow him again but none of them did. Chanyeol understood that maybe their managers were still telling them to keep the distance from him because of the scandal.

 

When the plagiarizing scandal was first discovered, just a few days after CBX released the song Chanyeol said he wrote, CBX initially received the flak from the public.

SM Entertainment quickly shifted and directed the blame onto Chanyeol, who was the real one responsible for it.

Chanyeol felt bad when the CBX members had to make a formal apology for releasing a plagiarized song, despite them not knowing about it at all. Therefore, he understood why they refused to talk or associate themselves with him now.

 

 

It was a bit disheartening but Chanyeol chose to push through and made a phone call to the executives in Seoul to tell them that had completed two songs and was almost done with the third one.

Chanyeol requested to make an appointment to show them his new songs, to discuss his future with the company and also have a meeting with the CEO too.

Chanyeol’s request was accepted and even Lee Soo Man agreed to meet Chanyeol again in the near future, although the date was yet to be unspecified as Chanyeol was supposed to still be taking time to “reflect on his actions.”

 

Chanyeol didn’t feel accomplished yet from just that but it was something, at least, and certainly a step forward from where he was previously at. Chanyeol had to remind himself that he needed to learn to accept small progress and steps too. Not everything could be done all at once.

 

 

 

Now that that was done with, Chanyeol stepped out from his room and planned to go outside the house to take a breath of fresh air. Admittedly, the phone call was actually rather stressful and nerve-wracking on Chanyeol. He did feel a lot of better after that though. 

It was past six in the evening but still rather bright outside. When Chanyeol entered the living room right outside his room, he was able to see the front door slid open with Kyungsoo lying down on the porch’s raised platform under the shade of the awning.

 

 

“I didn’t hear you come home,” Chanyeol pointed out, walking to where Kyungsoo was and standing there, looking down at Kyungsoo on the floor.

“I just got back like five minutes ago actually,” Kyungsoo panted.

Kyungsoo was lying down on the wooden floor while fanning himself with a handheld paper fan. He was wearing a wife beater drenched in sweat and his pants had been rolled up to his knees. Kyungsoo’s face was flushed and his cheeks were red, which was made obvious that he had been in the heat, whatnot with the beads of sweat running down his forehead.

“Let me go get you a glass of water,” Chanyeol offered, seeing the state Kyungsoo was in.

“Sure,” Kyungsoo waved Chanyeol off with his paper fan.

 

 

Chanyeol returned shortly later not only with a glass of water but also a wet towel. Chanyeol sat himself down on the porch too, sitting right above where Kyungsoo’s head was lying on the floor at.

Kyungsoo sat up momentarily to drink the glass of water, finishing the entire glass in a few gulps before laying back down but this time on Chanyeol’s lap instead.

“Ugh, I’m so tired,” Kyungsoo whined, looking up at Chanyeol with half-lidded eyes as he rested a hand on his belly.

“Of course you are. You’ve been working hard under the sun the whole day so you can rest now,” Chanyeol mentioned, meeting Kyungsoo’s gaze as he brought the wet towel to wipe the sweat from Kyungsoo’s face.

“Thanks, that feels good,” Kyungsoo sighed in relief, feeling the coolness of the wet towel on the regions around his face as his eyes fluttered shut.

“No problem,” Chanyeol replied with a smile which Kyungsoo didn’t see.

 

Chanyeol pushed Kyungsoo’s hair back so he could wipe the latter’s forehead, not minding the stickiness of the sweat and perspiration. He could always fix that with a shower later on.

“Have I ever told you that you’re beautiful even when you’re exhausted and sweaty,” Chanyeol expressed, cupping the sides of Kyungsoo’s cheek.

“That is the most backhanded compliment I’ve ever received but thank you,” Kyungsoo smiled, opening his eyes to look up at Chanyeol whose face was hovering just inches above his.

“I’m really glad I met you,” Chanyeol professed, almost brushing the tip of their noses against each other.

“I am happy that you are here with me too,” Kyungsoo returned, closing his eyes again with the smile still formed on his lips. 

 

 

Happy that he had finally managed to say at least one thing about how he felt for Kyungsoo, Chanyeol kissed Kyungsoo on the cheek with his lips. Kyungsoo had not seen it coming but he was pretty sure what he felt on his cheek wasn't that of the wet towel but Chanyeol's lips. 

Kyungsoo didn't address it but he laughed a bit, opening his eyes and putting a hand up to touch Chanyeol's face above his. Chanyeol laughed along and Kyungsoo's cheek continued to burn for a while after that, not just from the heat. 

 

 


	8. Of Firsts and Bountiful Harvests

 

When September rolled in, Chanyeol started seeing articles and posts on the internet about Chuseok, holiday discounts, sales, and whatnot, ranging from foods, gifts, and even flight discounts. That year’s Chuseok date would fall in mid-September.

The people Chanyeol followed on social media were talking about it, asking people about their Chuseok plans and posting all kinds of pictures of their preparations. Idol groups famous for their summer song releases were ending promotions, also at the same time leaving Chanyeol to wonder if he should have composed a summer song instead.

 

On the television, Chuseok advertisements and the holiday’s special shows were already being announced.

In real life, on the island, Chanyeol started seeing more people and more vehicles working on the farms and rice fields that were scattered throughout the island.

 

 

When Chanyeol passed by the plantations or rice fields, it was usually empty and he wouldn’t see much people around but with Chuseok approaching, it had substantially increased and Chanyeol learned that it was because of the harvest season.

September through early October was the last months of the warm temperature before the cold season would begin. Where, during the cold months, farming and planting activity on the island would usually come to a halt.

 

The whole idea of the Chuseok holiday was to celebrate the end of the harvest, a tradition that had been practiced for thousands of year in their culture from the olden days when almost everyone lived on a farm or in the countryside.

But in the modern age and to people like Chanyeol who had spent almost their entire lives in the city, the holiday was merely a festive one and an excuse to eat and drink a lot while visiting relatives.

The true meaning of celebrating the year’s harvest been lost over time but not to the people on Jindo Island.

 

 

 

The typhoon from last month hadn’t hit that hard particularly and a lot of the crops had survived the storm, leaving for the usual bountiful harvest that year.

Chanyeol had gotten used to seeing large harvesters machine in the rice fields, large tractors and trucks driving on the roads passing by the house as well as the continuous bombardment of Chuseok posts on his social media timeline.

 

The holidays or otherwise never mattered to Chanyeol since he would be working anyway. On the first day of Chuseok, he would visit his family and a few friends, committing to the usual holiday pleasantries and obligations. Then, on the second day of the holiday, he would find himself bored with nothing to do and then end up working on his music even when it was still closed everywhere.

 

 

Chuseok was still half a month away but Chanyeol had no plans for the holiday at all. He was just going to carry on with his daily routine of working on his music, just like he did almost every day that he was there. To him, it would just be another day except that the government had designated it as a public holiday.

Chanyeol had told his parents and sister early on that he wouldn’t be coming back for Chuseok that year. Chanyeol did send them some money to spend on the preparations for the holiday, hoping that the money would substitute his lack of presence.

Even if he did change his mind and decided to return to Seoul for the holiday, there was no way Chanyeol would be able to get a flight ticket home this late. Every flight was overbooked, all the train tickets were sold out and Chanyeol wasn’t going to take a ferry home because of his seasickness.

 

 

 

One evening in early September, at least ten days away from Chuseok, Chanyeol was greeting Kyungsoo at the door like he usually did when the latter came home almost every day- that was if Chanyeol could hear Kyungsoo coming because he was usually listening to music on his headphones.

When Kyungsoo came home that evening with a fat smile on his face like he usually did, despite how tired he was that day, Kyungsoo handed Chanyeol a paper bag which was rather heavy.

 

“I got that for you,” Kyungsoo announced, taking off his shoes at the door.

“Oh thanks, what is it?” Chanyeol replied, rustling through the paper bag and opening it to look inside. Chanyeol pulled out a pair of rubber boots and then a wide-brimmed farmer’s hat which was both new and seemingly unused.

Kyungsoo slid the door shut as he took the hat from Chanyeol’s grasp and had to tiptoe a bit to put it onto the latter’s head. Chanyeol looked up a bit at the rim of the hat while Kyungsoo fastened the chin strap so it sat steadily on Chanyeol’s head.

“Try on the boots too. Let’s see if it fits,” Kyungsoo gushed, excited on Chanyeol’s behalf, pointing to the boots in the paper bag.

“Sure,” Chanyeol chuckled, happy to comply as he took the black rubber boots out from the paper bag and set them on the ground as he put his feet one before the other.

“How is it?” Kyungsoo asked, inquisitively.

 

 

Chanyeol walked around the living room to try it out, making a circle around the table and coming back to where Kyungsoo was standing it. He was still wearing the hat also.

Chanyeol placed his arms on his waist and pumped his chest out, booming, “How do I look now?”

“Very handsome,” Kyungsoo replied, still smiling and laughing a bit.

“-really?” Chanyeol’s face lit up, his ears perking up.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo nodded eagerly.

“What are these stuff for though? Is it for something?” Chanyeol had to ask.

“You’re going farming with me,” Kyungsoo replied with a wide smile that he had been holding for so long that it was a surprise how his cheeks have not started to hurt yet.

“-farming? What about fishing though?” Chanyeol was a bit surprised at the sudden change in activities usually commended by Kyungsoo.

“Well, at this time of the year when the harvest is taking place, extra hands are needed on my parent’s farm so I stop fishing for a while to help them. Fishing is a year-round activity but farming isn’t,” Kyungsoo informed, “I bought those so you can come with me. I did promise to bring you around the island and do stuff together.”

“You mean by making me do free labor on your parent’s farm?” Chanyeol teased, “-but sure, I’d be more than happy to help you. You’ll have to tell me what to do though because I have no idea what goes on there. So, when do we start?”

“We can start tomorrow,” Kyungsoo happily announced, “Usually we wake up early at four to five in the morning when working on the farm but you’re not used to that, so be awake at six in the morning the latest. I think it’s alright if you’re a bit late. They won’t mind.”

“So I’ve heard,” Chanyeol pondered, “I’ll try my best.”

 

 

 

Chanyeol set his alarm for 5.45 in the morning, wanting the extra fifteen minutes between when he was supposed to wake up so he could be fresh and ready, even accounting for a snooze if he had to.

Chanyeol’s intentions were to impress Kyungsoo at being able to wake up early, wanting to seem ready and prepared for their plans that day- which was working on Kyungsoo’s family’s farm.

 

He didn’t do so well at that though. The moment his alarm rang at 5.45am, Chanyeol hit the snooze button and forgotten to set it to repeat every now and then. At half past six in the morning, Kyungsoo came knocking on Chanyeol’s door, asking him to hurry up because they were already running late.

Startled from his slumber and still half-asleep, Chanyeol quickly threw on a white singlet and a flannel shirt on top, pulling out the most comfortable trousers he could find in his hamper before rushing out of the door with his new boots and hat.

Chanyeol had to run back into the house when Kyungsoo was starting up the truck because he had forgotten his phone. Chanyeol could not go anywhere without his phone and he still found it baffling how Kyungsoo didn’t even want to own one.

 

 

Kyungsoo had made breakfast that morning but because Chanyeol woke up too late, Kyungsoo went along and ate by himself but he had also packed the rest into a container and made Chanyeol eat on the drive to the farm.

The windows were rolled down as usual and although in quite a rush and struggling not to spill his food in a moving vehicle, Chanyeol had a hearty breakfast accompanied by the sunrise with the view of the people already working on the fields which he could see from the roadside.

The air was still cool this early in the morning. The sun was still low in the sky giving it a soft orange glimmer as a gentle breeze blew into the cabin of the truck.

 

It was actually Chanyeol’s first time getting to experience the sunrise on the island despite being there for almost two months now. He was usually awake too late when compared to the early time the sun would rise in the summer.

Chanyeol was just experiencing it from inside the truck but he enjoyed how quiet and still everything seemed, thinking it would have been better had he woken up earlier.

 

It was even better when Chanyeol turned to look towards his left at Kyungsoo driving with only one hand on the steering wheel. Kyungsoo had his full attention on the road and did not notice Chanyeol looking at him.  Despite that, Chanyeol still found Kyungsoo alluring in his own way.

Everything was so tranquil and soothing that Chanyeol wouldn’t mind if this moment would last forever, thinking so as a smile was formed on his lips.

 

 

 

They arrived quite late at the farm for the usual standards of when one was supposed to arrive with farming in mind. Chanyeol knew he could get away with it because he was basically a glorified tourist on the island but he was worried that Kyungsoo would be scolded for what was his fault.

Nobody seemed to say anything about it though. The moment Chanyeol and Kyungsoo walked up to the farmhouse, they were greeted by Kyungsoo’s father who asked Chanyeol whether he had breakfast already.

When Chanyeol answered that he had indeed eaten breakfast, Kyungsoo’s father quickly threw Chanyeol and Kyungsoo two pairs of gloves, small shears and a basket they could carry on their chests so their hands were free. He then promptly left, going off to do other things.

 

“What are we going to do?” Chanyeol asked, putting the gloves on.

Kyungsoo was fixing the basket straps around his chest, “We’re picking the tangerines from the orchard. We only have three people for the picking because the rest are busy with the vegetables.”

“Oh, so should I just pluck the fruits and put it in the baskets? Do I need to check for any damage or something like that?” Chanyeol wondered, letting Kyungsoo help fix the basket onto his chest.

“Nope, just collect it. We’ll do the sorting later on,” Kyungsoo answered, ready to start.

 

 

 

They had to walk past the greenhouses and vegetable patches before they made their way into the orchard, which was behind a fenced area. It already seemed far off from the farmhouse and Chanyeol was impressed that Kyungsoo’s parents owned all this amount of land.

There, Kyungsoo introduced Chanyeol to the “three other people” who would be working alongside them that day. They were the farm’s regular employees and Chanyeol learned that each year, they would always have some people to assist them during the harvesting season. Usually, it was Kyungsoo and that year, Chanyeol was included.

 

 

Chanyeol had never gone tangerine picking, although he had heard that it was also a popular activity on Jeju Island which wasn’t actually too far off from Jindo.

In fact, Kyungsoo had pointed out how those who owned boats on Jindo Island sometimes sailed all the way to Jeju if they just felt like it.

 

 

Initially, Chanyeol had thought that the tangerine trees would be tall and that the fruits would be hanging at a high level. Chanyeol had even envisioned a scenario where the shorter Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to reach for a particular fruit and he’d swoop in to make use of his height and get it for the latter.

For a second time that morning already, Chanyeol failed with his chance to impress Kyungsoo when he discovered that the tallest tree and the highest hanging fruits were just slightly taller than he was. It was certainly not a problem for Kyungsoo to reach it with his arm length.

 

Almost as if he could read Chanyeol’s mind, Kyungsoo walked past Chanyeol and said, “We purposely keep the trees this height so it’s easy for picking. Otherwise, we’d have to carry around step-ladders or only hire tall people like you.”

“I can see that,” Chanyeol almost disappointedly replied.

“Come let me show you how it’s done,” Kyungsoo offered, moving to stand beside Chanyeol in front of the rows of trees they had been assigned to.

 

 

Since it was the peak of the harvest season, the tangerines were ripe and ready to be harvested, growing plenty on the not-so-tall-as-expected trees. Chanyeol wasn’t so sure if it was always like this or whether it was just an abnormally good year for the harvest.

The tangerines appeared to grow in clusters. There would at least be two or three of them at the end of a particular branch on the tree, surrounded by the green leaves.

 

Holding up the small scissors-like shears, Kyungsoo pulled one tangerine, extending its branch outwards.

“Hold the shears like this,” Kyungsoo instructed, positioning the shears at a section where the stalk and the branch met, “-and just carefully snip it off. Don’t cut it off to close to the fruit and not too far either. You’d want the stalk left on the fruit to look something like this.” Kyungsoo then held up the fruit in his palm, showing it to Chanyeol before putting it into his own basket.

“Oh, okay,” Chanyeol nodded, licking his lower lip as he processed what was being told.

“Go ahead and try it,” Kyungsoo urged, holding onto a branch which he extended out to Chanyeol, “It’s usually easier to start from the top to the bottom.”

“Alright,” Chanyeol muttered, holding up his shears at the part of the branch that Kyungsoo was holding out to him.

 

 

Mimicking what Kyungsoo did earlier, Chanyeol managed to snip off and successfully pluck the tangerine. It wasn’t actually that hard to do but Chanyeol had worried about messing up somehow. He was very afraid of making mistakes.

Chanyeol was happy, showing off his first successful picking, holding up the tangerine and squealing, “I did it!”

“Well congratulations then,” Kyungsoo gleefully added, then taking the tangerine from Chanyeol’s hand.

“Hey, that’s mine. It’s going in my basket,” Chanyeol played along.

“No, not yet,” Kyungsoo proceeded to then peel the tangerine with his nails, “Your first one has to go inside your tummy, not your basket.”

“Ah, of course!” Chanyeol excitedly mentioned, almost skipping as he waited for Kyungsoo to peel the skin open.

 

Once Kyungsoo was finished with the peeling, he passed the fruit to Chanyeol- ready to be eaten.

Chanyeol pulled out one piece of the fruit and popped it into his mouth, chewing and then commenting, “It’s sweet. I thought it’d be sour.”

“We only grow the sweet variety here,” Kyungsoo informed, looking at the tree in front of them and then back at Chanyeol.

“Yeah, just like you,” Chanyeol took the opportunity of the situation to add that in.

“What?” Kyungsoo scrunched his nose.

“I meant-,” Chanyeol spat out a few seeds into his hand before he continued, “You’re like the tangerines.” Chanyeol was a bit too shy to continue that sentence now that he had to do it twice.

“I don’t get it,” Kyungsoo remained clueless.

“You’re sweet,” Chanyeol repeated and then smiled a bit awkwardly, “-just like the tangerines.”

Kyungsoo laughed a little, pressing the back of his palm to his face as he did so.

“Wait, you don’t like that?” Chanyeol was almost pained to ask.

“No, it’s not that,” Kyungsoo shook his head, still recovering from the fits of laughter, “I’ve just never had someone compare me to a tangerine.”

“Well, I’m your first then?” Chanyeol implored, still holding a half-eaten tangerine in one hand.

“Certainly, I don’t think I have met anyone like you,” Kyungsoo admitted, “You really are one of a kind, Chanyeol.”

 

Chanyeol certainly didn’t get to impress Kyungsoo that day but what he heard was certainly a stroke to his ego. At least, it made him feel a lot more comfortable and sure with where things were heading between him and Kyungsoo now.

Chanyeol couldn’t deny it anymore. He certainly felt something for Kyungsoo which he couldn’t quite put a word to yet. Whatever the feeling was, Chanyeol just knew it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside even from just the thought of it.

 

 

 

Whenever they filled their baskets and it got too heavy to carry, the tangerines would be put into another larger collection basket at the end of each row of trees.

Through that, Chanyeol learned that he may have been too fast for a picker for his strength because it only made his basket fill up faster too. Which meant he also needed to make more trips to drop off his tangerines into the basket.

 

Halfway through picking, the dogs that usually roamed the farm came up to where Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were, barking and wagging their tails at them.

Kyungsoo stopped to pat the dogs for a while before resuming picking the tangerines. Chanyeol spent a bit more time playing and patting the dogs before he got back to work.

Apparently, it wasn’t just Kyungsoo’s family’s farm that kept dogs. It was actually common for farmers to rear dogs on their farm, especially the Jindo breed that the island was famous for.

 

 

Together with the other farmhands, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo continued picking tangerines until it got a bit too hot and sunny in the afternoon. Then, they would take a short break under a table specially set up under a taller tree for that purpose. Whereby, someone would bring down food and drinks for them, all the way from the farmhouse.

When it began to cool down later in the afternoon, they continued their tangerine pickings and would only stop when it started to get dark.

 

After the afternoon break, when it was hotter and sunnier, Chanyeol did find himself tiring out faster also because he had been at it for a while now. Chanyeol was used to working long hours but composing music was a rather sedentary activity compared to farming where he constantly needed to be out and about on his feet.

Looking back, Chanyeol wondered how he even survived almost two years in the military. Those days had seemed so far behind him now.  

 

But despite the heat and his body tiring out way faster than everyone else because he wasn’t used to it, Chanyeol felt a lot more motivated to keep going when he saw Kyungsoo smiling, laughing and talking to the other farmhands as they picked the tangerines.

All his problems seemed to cease to exist at that moment and Chanyeol undeniably enjoyed seeing happiness radiating from Kyungsoo especially.

 

 

 

Chanyeol ended his first-day picking tangerines on the farm by having dinner with Kyungsoo and his family, including Jongin who had just come home from school.

Chanyeol was extremely tired and struggling to keep himself awake through dinner. He was basically on autopilot during dinner and couldn’t even remember what he ate or what was discussed at the table.

 

Whatever was left of Chanyeol’s energy was just enough for him to walk back to the truck and then fall asleep on the passenger seat with a plastic bag of tangerines on his lap, which he didn’t even remember that he was given.

Most of the tangerines were sold to a grocer but a portion of it would be divided into plastic bags that would later be distributed to people on the island. Sometimes, they would just hang the plastic bags outside the fence and anyone was allowed to take one home.

 

 

Chanyeol slept through the entire drive home. The vibrations of the truck and the low hum of the engine actually lulled him to sleep even better.

Kyungsoo woke Chanyeol up when they arrived back home and he dragged himself back inside the house and all the way into his room onto his bed.

When Chanyeol woke up late the next morning, the plastic bag of tangerines was still on the bed beside him, still in his grasp. Only then, Chanyeol started to faintly remember what he had been through the previous night.

 

Chanyeol was supposed to spend another day on the farm continuing to pick tangerines but Kyungsoo let him sleep in and went alone, seeing how tired Chanyeol had been.

Still tired from yesterday, Chanyeol spent his day lounging around the house wearing shorts while on his phone and only intermittently getting up to sit at his desk to work a little bit on his music.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo came home that evening with a tangerine cake and fresh fish. Both the cake and fresh fish were a gift from some other people he knew

The tangerines to make the cake had been from Kyungsoo’s family’s farm, which they gave out to a neighbor who then made the cake for them as a gift in return. Kyungsoo hadn’t gone out to sea but the fish had been a gift from a fellow fisherman too who had dropped by the farm earlier on.

 

“Is that for Chuseok?” Chanyeol asked, seeing Kyungsoo bringing in the cake.

“Chuseok is a week away. It’s not going to last that long so we can finish it up. We’ll have more food when Chuseok comes around so don’t worry about it,” Kyungsoo assured, putting the cake down onto a plate.

“Cake for dinner sounds good,” Chanyeol expressed, “-but I made rice though.”

“That’s what the fish is for. I’m going to bake it in the oven,” Kyungsoo planned, going through the cabinets and drawers for a knife and chopping board.

“Can I help clean the fish?” Chanyeol requested, following Kyungsoo around the kitchen.

“Sure, do you know how to do it?” Kyungsoo replied, handing Chanyeol a fish scaler.

“No, not really but I want to learn,” Chanyeol said, taking the fish scaler from Kyungsoo.

“Okay, wash your hands first,” Kyungsoo instructed.

 

 

Chanyeol did as he was told, listening and observing eagerly as Kyungsoo demonstrated how to scale a fish by holding it on the tail and then moving the scaler in stroking motions along its length. Kyungsoo also warned Chanyeol to be careful around the fins which could be rather sharp.

Chanyeol repeated what Kyungsoo did but he was maybe a bit too hard at it, which caused a few of the scales to flick off the fish and onto his face. Chanyeol had to spit out the scale which landed in his mouth and Kyungsoo laughed at it, patting him on the back and telling him it was okay for a first try.

It was certainly harder than it looked, Chanyeol learned.

 

The worse came when Kyungsoo was teaching how to remove the guts and gills from a fish before it was ready to be cooked.

Kyungsoo did the first step by cutting an incision on the underside of the fish from the middle and all the way up to its mouth.

Kyungsoo then held the fish open, exposing its soft and red organs to Chanyeol, “Okay you can do it now.”

“Wait, what do I do?” Chanyeol blinked rapidly.

“You stick your hand in and pull it out from back to front, and then use the smaller knife to scrape out the leftovers,” Kyungsoo informed.

“I use my…hand?” Chanyeol was shocked.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Kyungsoo told.

“Uh…okay,” Chanyeol was already reluctant but he was glad that he was wearing gloves so he didn’t really have to directly touch the guts with his hands.

 

 

As Kyungsoo held the fish open, Chanyeol stuck his fingers into the sliced abdomen of the fish and squirmed when he felt how soft and gooey it was even from over the protective layer of the gloves.

“Don’t worry, it’s just intestines and stomach maybe,” Kyungsoo withheld himself from laughing at Chanyeol’s predicament.

“That doesn’t make it any better!” Chanyeol exclaimed, coming off rather comically.

Chanyeol tried hard to not look directly at the fish while he was doing so. In fact, he was starting to feel rather bad for an already dead fish.

“Ah!” Chanyeol shrieked when he pressed a bit too hard on the organs and it ended up bursting like a bubble and squelching, “What was that!?”

 

This time Kyungsoo really laughed out loud, even bending over and slapping his knee because of how hard he was laughing. To Kyungsoo, it was funny seeing an older person struggling at what he did on an almost every day basis.

Chanyeol was a bit embarrassed, sure, but Kyungsoo’s laugh was contagious and he couldn’t help but chuckle along. At least he learned something new that day and amused Kyungsoo with his inexperience at gutting a fish.

Kyungsoo ended up cleaning and preparing the rest of the fish, taking over from Chanyeol who stopped halfway through it and said he’d just watch instead.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol spent another two days over the next week working on the farm. Two days before Chuseok, Kyungsoo’s family and the entire farm were already done with their harvest. They then took a day off to visit the graves of their ancestors and relatives.

In big cities like Seoul where a majority of the deceased’s ashes were kept in lockers in buildings designated for it, grave visits were a simple occasion which didn’t involve too many formalities.

However, here in the countryside where the deceased had their own gravesite, it was still necessary to do the traditional customs.

 

That year, Chanyeol was invited to come along with Kyungsoo’s family on the grave visits. It was also a weekend so Jongin had followed too. Chanyeol hadn't gotten to see much of Jongin since he moved back in with his parents. 

 

 

Chanyeol helped to clear the weeds and trim the grass on the graves, which belonged to ancestors of both Jongin and Kyungsoo’s side of the family. One of the graves also belonged to Kyungsoo’s biological mother.

They weren’t the only ones there and Chanyeol recognized a few of the people whom he had seen around the island.

The usual offering of fruits and rice cakes were also placed on bowls near the grave. Chanyeol stood by and waited under a tree when the family was paying the respects towards their ancestors.

 

 

They didn’t leave so soon though. They also stopped to help clear up and put offerings on the gravesites of those who no longer had family left to tend to it.

Chanyeol was squatting on the ground with Kyungsoo at his side, pulling out weeds from the grass in front of someone else’s grave.

 

“Do you miss your mother sometimes?” Chanyeol asked, seeing how quiet Kyungsoo had been that day.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo answered, pausing at what he was doing momentarily as he looked up at the sky from his squatting position, “It’s been almost eight years since she passed away so sometimes I even forget about it but yeah, I do miss her.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol sympathized, “I hope she went peacefully.”

“I hope so too,” Kyungsoo agreed, “She died from a relapse of ovarian cancer. She was supposed to be in remission but it came back and this time it was terminal. She didn’t live a year after the second diagnosis.”         

“I’m really sorry,” Chanyeol continued to say, “It must have been hard on you and your father.”

“It was,” Kyungsoo pursed his lips together, looking at Chanyeol in the eyes, “-but at least we were prepared for it so it wasn’t too shocking. The people here were very nice and helpful to us too when they found out what we were going through.”

Chanyeol placed a hand on Kyungsoo’s upper back, rubbing his hand in circles as he comforted, “I’m sure she’d be proud of you.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo agreed, smiling a bit.

“So how did your dad end up marrying Jongin’s mom?” Chanyeol questioned, having being eager to know that since the first day he got there.

“Oh, my mom and Jongin’s mom had been friends since childhood actually. They were almost like sisters. When Jongin’s birth father ran away from the island with a woman half his age, it was my mom who helped them get back on their feet and be independent. She’d babysit Jongin so his mom could find work,” Kyungsoo revealed.

“I see,” Chanyeol nodded, removing his hand from Kyungsoo and wrapping his arms around his legs. 

Kyungsoo continued, “When my mom first got cancer when I was eleven, she had to stay in a hospital in Mokpo and my father had to accompany her. I couldn’t go because of school so I stayed with Jongin and his mother. They took care of me for months and she would also do the chores for us while my mom was still recuperating.”

“That’s so nice of them,” Chanyeol praised, "No wonder you and Jongin seem like actual brothers even though you are just step-siblings."

Kyungsoo told, “Yeah, they are both wonderful people indeed, both my mom and Jongin’s mom. When my mother received the second diagnosis which was terminal, she even tried to be the matchmaker between my father and Jongin’s mom. She didn’t want my father to be alone after she died and she didn’t want me to lack a motherly figure too. They didn’t really get together until two years after my mother passed away though. “

“I may not know your mother personally but I have to thank her for bringing you into this world. Otherwise, I won’t be here with you right now,” Chanyeol tried to butter Kyungsoo up after having him reveal a gloomy part of his life.

Kyungsoo snickered a bit, “Well, there’s that and you wouldn’t be here either if you didn’t steal a song.”

“That is true,” Chanyeol admitted, “I’m not going to lie but that sort of stings a bit coming from you.”

“I’m just going by what I heard,” Kyungsoo shrugged, “-but I trust the Park Chanyeol I know and not the one I’ve heard from others.”

“Thanks for giving me the chance,” Chanyeol smiled.

“You’re always welcome,” Kyungsoo replied, smiling back.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol spent his Chuseok on the island for the first time with Kyungsoo’s family and the rest of the people on the island.

Despite being just a guest, Chanyeol never felt left out or like he was a stranger in the family’s Chuseok celebration. In fact, they were probably trying harder to accommodate him because he wasn’t from the island.

 

On the night of Chuseok eve, Chanyeol was gathered with Kyungsoo and his family in the farmhouse, eating dinner with plenty of dishes. Chuseok was certainly a grand occasion for eating in their household it seemed, whatnot with the entire family that seemed to be good at cooking too.

After dinner, some of Kyungsoo’s family friends came over and the adults started drinking. Jongin went out with his friends from school to play fireworks down at the beach.

 

 

Chanyeol wasn’t much of a drinker, to begin with, and neither was Kyungsoo, although they did have a few obligatory shots of soju so they didn’t seem too rude when everyone else was having fun drinking. The amount they drank was far from making them the least bit tipsy though and they were completely sober throughout the entire night.

After a while, Chanyeol excused himself from the living room where everyone was laughing and talking loudly, wanting to call his family as he promised to do on the night before Chuseok.

 

Chanyeol’s sister was spending Chuseok with her own family; meanwhile, his parents had taken a last-minute overseas trip to Southeast Asia when Chanyeol sent them money instead of coming home for the holiday that year.

 

 

 

Chanyeol went outside the house, standing where he could still hear the loud chatter in the living room and see the lights that shone from inside the house. Kyungsoo’s truck was parked just nearby.

It was a cool and clear night. There was a full moon outside as the Chuseok celebration was always meant to coincide with that phase of the moon in the mid-autumn month of the lunar calendar.

 

 

Chanyeol leaned his back against the front hood of Kyungsoo’s truck as he called both his parents and sister separately on the phone, talking to them and asking how their Chuseok was going along. Chanyeol’s sister was busy with her in-laws and his parents were apparently having a Chuseok dinner at some seafood restaurant somewhere in Thailand. 

Just as Chanyeol was getting off the phone, he saw the figure of Kyungsoo emerging from the house, jogging towards him with his fists clutched.

 

“Let’s go!” Kyungsoo half-yelled, rushing towards his truck and Chanyeol’s direction.

“Where are we going? It’s still early,” Chanyeol looked up from his phone and to Kyungsoo as he was getting into the driver’s seat.

“It’s a full moon so it’s going to be a high tide and there’s no wind so the sea is calm tonight,” Kyungsoo mentioned, turning his key and starting up the truck.

“So we’re going fishing?” Chanyeol seemed to know the answer to that already.

“Of course! There’s going to be lots of fish tonight and I haven't been out to sea in weeks. Hurry up,” Kyungsoo rushed, beckoning in for Chanyeol to get into the truck.

 

Chanyeol didn’t need to be told twice before hopping into the truck with Kyungsoo, giggling away as they were ditching the Chuseok eve drinking party to go fishing instead. Never in Chanyeol's life had he predicted or foreseen himself doing such a thing until now.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo drove all the way down to the dock, which was empty that time of the night especially on a holiday’s eve. Chanyeol did spot some lights on in a few docked fishing boats, thinking that the maybe had the same idea which Kyungsoo was having.

 

When they walked up to the end of the dock where Kyungsoo’s boat was at, Kyungsoo quickly hopped over the gap and climbed onto his boat, holding his hand out to Chanyeol.

That was when Chanyeol realized that Kyungsoo wanted to go fishing out at sea and not at the pier like they usually did. Chanyeol gulped, a bit nervous as he had flashbacks of falling into the sea and being seasick when he got onto Kyungsoo’s boat when he had first arrived there.

Nevertheless, Chanyeol sucked it up and thought that it was too early to judge something he hadn’t really tried out. Besides, it was kind of cool to know someone who owned a boat because it meant getting to experience sailing in one, without the hassle and the expensive cost of actually owning one. 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo took a while to start up his boat and the navigation system before sailing out at sea. For Chanyeol’s sake, knowing that he couldn’t swim and could get seasick, Kyungsoo didn’t go too far out at sea.

Kyungsoo stopped and anchored the fishing boat just less than a kilometer from shore. From that distance, they could still see the dock, island and the bridge that connected it from the mainland, appearing smaller in the distance.

At night with the full moon in the clear sky above, the lights coming from the island seemed to glimmer and twinkle. The sea was calm as Kyungsoo said it would be as small waves only lightly rocked the boat, lapping up against the sides as the soft sounds of it filled the air around them.

 

The lights on the boat were turned on but Kyungsoo had purposely not lit them all, choosing only to turn on the ones in the wheelhouse. There were actually a couple of extremely bright floodlights on the boat meant for night fishing.

Chanyeol didn’t dare to stand up on the boat yet though, still choosing to sit down because he was afraid of losing balance and falling into the sea if he did so.

                                         

 

As Kyungsoo was setting up the rods, he looked over his shoulder to ask Chanyeol to pass what looked like a toolbox over to him. Chanyeol walked over with his back hunched forwards almost at his waist level to hand it to Kyungsoo.

“Help me open it up,” Kyungsoo requested, fixing the line on the rods.

Chanyeol was squatting to the floor of the boat when he opened the toolbox. At first, he was confused at what was inside because his eyes were still getting adjusted to the lighting. However, Chanyeol did feel somewhat strange about it until he realized that was basically looking back at worms meant for bait.

“Ugh”, Chanyeol immediately fell onto his butt and backed away from the open box, “Why didn’t you tell me there were worms in there?”

“Trust me, it’s not that bad,” Kyungsoo snickered, bending down to pick a worm up with his bare hands, “You want to touch it?”

“No thank you,” Chanyeol was quick to refuse.                

“I thought so,” Kyungsoo snickered, almost as if he was challenging Chanyeol and had just won at it.

“Wha-,” Chanyeol stuttered, slightly taken aback by Kyungsoo’s mischievous side revealing itself.

 Surely, now out at sea on Kyungsoo’s boat, Chanyeol was at a disadvantage on all matters because this was Kyungsoo’s “territory”. He couldn’t win here for sure.

 

 

It wasn’t that bad when it came to leveraging for Chanyeol though. They were barely an hour out on the water when something to have caught onto the bait on Chanyeol’s fishing line.

Happy that he was the first to catch something that night, Chanyeol quickly reeled the line in with Kyungsoo also visibly excited on his behalf.

 

“Pull it in quick before it escapes. I want to see it. It must be big,” Kyungsoo expected, standing close beside Chanyeol.

“I know! I’m trying,” Chanyeol insisted, finding himself in a tug-of-war with the fishing rod. Whatever it was at the hook was obviously strong because Chanyeol found himself exerting more strength than what was usually needed.

“Here, let me help,” Kyungsoo said, moving to stand behind Chanyeol and putting his arms and hands over Chanyeol’s to help pull the fishing rod in.

 

 

With Kyungsoo’s help, Chanyeol was able to reel in the fish. Kyungsoo caught the fish from the end of the hook, pulling it aboard once Chanyeol had it above the waterline.

“It’s a Pacific jack mackerel,” Kyungsoo informed after having a close look at the fish which was lying limp on the boat’s deck, “This is a bigger one than usual though. You could sell this one for up to 100,000 won at the market depending on the market price.”

“Really?” Chanyeol perked up, excitedly.

Kyungsoo affirmed, “You’re very lucky to catch one so close to shore like this. They’re usually far out in the ocean and swim in shoals so this one might have gone astray from the rest.”

“It’s my beginner’s luck for the first time fishing on the sea,” Chanyeol declared.

“Yeah, it is,” Kyungsoo acknowledged, quickly going back to the wheelhouse, “Hold on, I want to measure it.”

“Sure, take your time,” Chanyeol replied, having already whipped his phone out of his pocket, setting the camera function to night mode and started to take pictures of his first catch out at sea.

 

 

Kyungsoo emerged from the wheelhouse with a retractable tape measure which he always kept on board for purposes such as these. On the boat in the wheelhouse, Kyungsoo even had a hardcover notebook with a pen attached to it by a string so he could write down the longest and heaviest fish of every type that he came across.

After measuring the fish that came in at almost 75 centimeters, Kyungsoo also took out his fishing scale to record down the weight of the fish which was a bit over 2 kilograms, significantly heavier than the average weight by at least half a kilogram.

 

Kyungsoo was sitting on a ledge in the boat with the notebook in his lap, writing down the details such as the date, time and specifics of the fish Chanyeol had just caught. Kyungsoo even made sure to write the note down that it was Chanyeol who had been the one to catch the fish.

After Chanyeol was done taking pictures of himself with the fish, planning to brag about it on his family’s group chat later, Chanyeol approached Kyungsoo who was still taking notes down.

Chanyeol had completely forgotten about being afraid of standing up or walking around on the boat because of how elated he was feeling in the moment. Everything seemed so perfect and just right.

 

“If you want, I can print out a picture of the fish so you can keep it,” Chanyeol suggested, peering over to look at what Kyungsoo was writing down under the lighting from the wheelhouse just behind them.

“Yes, of course. I’d love that,” Kyungsoo enthused with an expression to match how he felt.

 

 

Chanyeol was standing and bending forwards, with his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he was trying to read Kyungsoo’s notebook. Kyungsoo was looking back up at him from his sitting position, diverting his gaze from the book and towards Chanyeol instead.

The boat continued to rock gently accompanied by the soft sloshing sounds of the small waves. The moon overhead in the sky was full and bright in a yellowish-white glow.

 

“Trying to come up with another witty comment?” Kyungsoo voiced out when he saw Chanyeol looking at him but rather deep in thought.

“Well, I want to say the right thing to make you happy so I have to think it through,” Chanyeol confessed with a rather smug smile on his face, confident of himself.

“I’m already happy to be around you,” Kyungsoo illustrated, “-like this moment right here.”

“You’re just happy because there’s a big dead fish on the deck,” Chanyeol glanced over at the said fish and then back at Kyungsoo.

“Nope,” Kyungsoo shook his head left and right, “ As I said to you earlier, you make me happy. I think my life was alright but you added color into it when you came. I don’t know how to explain it but I just feel happy so I don’t really question it too much.”

“You sure?” Chanyeol squinted his eyes as he continued to bend forward to look at Kyungsoo, his hands now on his hips, pretending to scrutinize Kyungsoo. 

“I’m not getting paid to lie to you,” Kyungsoo insisted despite knowing that Chanyeol was just throwing banter at him.

“Oh yeah, then prove it,” Chanyeol stood up straight, folding his arms over his chest and puffing his chest out, with the intention to continue teasing because Chanyeol liked seeing how flustered Kyungsoo got sometimes like the time he had tried to kiss him.

 

 

Before Chanyeol continued saying anything further, he was caught unexpectedly by two hands pulling his face forwards.

Chanyeol opened his eyes rapidly and the next thing he knew, Kyungsoo was kissing him on the cheek, so dangerously close to the corner of his lips. As fast as it happened, Kyungsoo then pulled away, letting Chanyeol’s face go.

“Okay, I believe you,” Chanyeol felt slightly defeated with his cheeks still burning, “-but next time, kiss me properly.”

“You can go kiss the fish then. It looks lonely,” Kyungsoo retorted, partly embarrassed and somewhat a bit satisfied.

 

 


	9. Of Pictures and the Beach

 

During Chuseok, the island’s town and commercial center were what Chanyeol described as “dead”. There were barely any shops open and there was hardly anyone on the streets in the commercial area of the island at least.

Everyone was busy welcoming guests at their home or busy being the one who visited others instead.  Somehow, Chanyeol was roped into this by Kyungsoo and had gone to countless of houses of people Kyungsoo knew around the island. Chanyeol barely knew any of them.

 

Chanyeol ate and drank so much in the first few days of Chuseok out of obligation; until he began to look at his stomach in the mirror and worry that he was probably gaining weight from it. Chanyeol hadn’t been working out in over a year and now that he was getting older, he feared the day he would become the uncle with a pot belly or a beer gut.

It was hard to turn down the food and drinks he was served during the Chuseok celebration though, especially when it was so good and free to boot. Chanyeol didn’t complain about it either because he got to spend almost his entire day with Kyungsoo clinging onto him as they visited other people from house to house.

                                           

 

 

A week after Chuseok, the shops and businesses around the island opened up again. Chanyeol could see tourist buses occasionally passing by in front of the house again and Kyungsoo started going out to sea again after the break and farming stint he did before that.

After spending almost every day for a week with Kyungsoo, Chanyeol was alone again in the small two-bedroom house during the day.

 

 

It was still warm on the island in late-September but nowhere near as hot like it had been in the past two months when Chanyeol had been there. Nighttimes were also significantly cooler than previously.

Sitting with his hands between his legs on the front porch one afternoon, while he was taking a short break from composing some music, Chanyeol was scrolling through his phone’s image gallery when he came across the recent pictures he took from last week of the fish he had caught from the Chuseok eve night.

 

Chanyeol quickly posted the picture of the fish in his family’s group chat, bragging to them about what he had caught and the size of it. Chanyeol even considered posting it on Instagram to keep his followers updated about what he had been up to.

Chanyeol even thought of maybe hosting a live broadcast to tell that he was composing new and original music now, eager to release it soon in the future.

                                                                                               

It was only over two months ago since Chanyeol’s plagiarizing scandal was unearthed and from the public criticizing him to making jokes of him and now barely even talking regarding the incident, it had seemed like a long time ago since then.

The media was reporting on a much bigger and deeper scandal when compared to Chanyeol’s. He had thought his career and life was over when he was exposed as a plagiarizer but looking back now, it didn’t seem that all too bad especially when compared to what was going on in the news these days.

It was an unexpected distraction but it didn’t change or absolve him of what he had done. Still feeling burdened by the guilt and remorse, Chanyeol decided against updating his Instagram for the first time in months, although he did spend a good time going through other people’s posts and profiles before he got bored of it.

 

 

 

Seeing the picture of the Pacific jack tuna fish he had caught and reminded of his promise to print it out for Kyungsoo, Chanyeol got dressed and grabbed a cap to wear on his head before leaving the house.

Chanyeol decided to take a walk down all the way to the commercial center of the town, where he knew there was a printing shop at.

 

Chanyeol walked on the side of the road because there wasn’t such a thing as a designated pedestrian path. He wasn’t really expecting much out of a rural island like this but there were hardly any vehicles on the road anyway.

The walk took almost twenty minutes at a brisk and relaxed pace, with Chanyeol stopping several times to adjust his cap and use it to fan himself while he rested for a while before continuing on his way. He wasn’t in a rush and didn’t mind taking it slow.

 

 

As Chanyeol was approaching the island’s commercial district which was just beside the sea and the port, he could feel the air rushing and getting windier.

Hence, it was cooler there and Chanyeol heaved a sigh of relief to feel the cool air against his perspiring skin. It was even better when he stepped into the air-conditioned printing shop to get the pictures printed, where he was greeted warmly by the father and daughter who ran the shop.

 

While Chanyeol was waiting for the pictures to be ready, he walked around the shop looking and observing the pictures and samples hung on the wall. Chanyeol chuckled to himself to see a picture of CBX and other artists he knew, used as a sample to show certain picture sizes.

Chanyeol also saw that the shop was offering the services to print transparent photo cards, similar to the ones that sometimes came together with albums, where one could hold it against a landscape and make it appear as if the idol in the pictures was right there with the landscape as the background.

Seeing that, Chanyeol had an idea and ordered for one to be made with a certain picture he had on his phone.

 

 

Chanyeol waited a day for the transparent photo card to be ready, returning the next day to pick it up from the shop.

Once he got it and made his payment, Chanyeol walked back and occasionally held it up against the view of the rice fields and the sea on his way home.

Smiling to himself, Chanyeol took pictures of how the photo card would look against each backdrop. He was excited to show it to Kyungsoo and see how the latter would react to it. Chanyeol was hoping that Kyungsoo would like it.

 

 

 

 

When Chanyeol was home again, he continued working with the photo card placed on his desk beside his computer. Occasionally, Chanyeol would look at it while he was working and smile to himself, feeling more than eager to show it to Kyungsoo now.

Chanyeol worked through the afternoon and into the evening, waiting for Kyungsoo to return home from the sea. However, Chanyeol began to feel tired just as it was about to get dark and decided to have a nap while he waited.

 

Chanyeol intended it to be just a nap and trusted that he would be awake when he heard Kyungsoo coming home. It didn’t really turn out as he planned though.

When Chanyeol woke up, the first thing he did was grab his phone lying next to him and gasped when he saw that it was past eleven at night.

 

 

Chanyeol knew Kyungsoo was never up this late but he quickly got up and left his room to check anyway.

He wasn’t too surprised to find the house quiet with the lights in the living room turned off and his now cold dinner waiting under a cover on the table.

Chanyeol walked up to the door of Kyungsoo’s room. He heard no sounds coming from Kyungsoo’s room and was safe to assume that Kyungsoo was fast asleep now.

 

Chanyeol was a bit disappointed but he decided he’d just wait until tomorrow because there would always be a next time for sure.

 

 

 

Chanyeol’s sleeping schedule had been thrown off with him waking up at eleven at night and finally feeling tired enough to go back to sleep at almost five in the morning. Therefore, Chanyeol missed Kyungsoo that morning too because he was still asleep.

When he woke up, it was almost noon. Kyungsoo was long gone and Chanyeol would just have to wait until that evening, determined to not fall asleep this time.

 

 

At almost six in the evening, Chanyeol heard the front door unlocking and the sounds of someone entering the house. Thinking it was Kyungsoo; Chanyeol left his room to greet the latter, only to find that it was Jongin. He was disappointed even though he didn't want to be.

 

“Hey,” Jongin greeted, taking off his shoes at the front door with a plastic bag in one hand.

“Oh, hi. Is it just you? Where’s Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol asked when he didn’t see the truck outside or Kyungsoo around anywhere.

“He’s not coming back for a few days so mom told me to accompany you in case you needed anything,” Jongin replied, putting his shoes onto the rack and then sliding the front door shut.

“Why? Where did he go?” Chanyeol scrunched his nose, curious.

“Well, the harvest season is over now and there’s not much to do on the farm, so dad is going out to sea with Kyungsoo-hyung to help him make up for the few weeks where he didn’t go out to fish because of Chuseok and him helping out on the farm,” Jongin revealed.

“-and they’ll be going for how long?” Chanyeol placed his hands on his waist.

“-two to three days at least. There’s more fish to catch if he goes out further at sea but he can’t do that alone so now that dad is with him, they’re going to spend a few nights out there,” Jongin informed.

“I see,” Chanyeol nodded a bit, hiding his slight disappointment at not getting to see Kyungsoo for a few more days.

“So, anyway, I have our dinner,” Jongin announced, lifting up the plastic bag to show Chanyeol, “-and I’ll be staying here for a few days. Just let me know when you’re hungry or want to eat.”

“Cool, sure,” Chanyeol replied, missing Kyungsoo already.

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t that lonely with Jongin around although he was still alone in the house during the daytime, when Jongin would be in school. Not that it was much different than what he was used to while living on the island for over two months now.

The only thing different was that Kyungsoo had been swapped around with Jongin for the time being.

 

 

It had only been two days since Chanyeol had last seen Kyungsoo and he wouldn’t lie if he kept on counting the time until when they’d see each other again. Chanyeol was always checking his phone and had to remind himself that Kyungsoo didn’t have one to contact him with, not that he could anyway when he was out at sea.

Kyungsoo was always on Chanyeol’s mind, even as he was trying to come up with a new chord progression or when he was scribbling down lyrics on his notebook.

 

Chanyeol wasn’t bothered so much about Kyungsoo’s absence. Instead, he was more bothered when he realized that he didn’t have the opportunity to sit down and properly talk to Kyungsoo, not since that night on the boat on Chuseok eve.

They had been too busy with Chuseok celebration in the week after and now that the celebrations were over, Kyungsoo had to inconveniently spend several days out at sea, although Chanyeol understood that it was Kyungsoo's occupation and his source of livelihood.

Chanyeol even wondered if this was how it felt like to be in a relationship with a sailor who would be away for months at a time. Sure, Kyungsoo would be gone only for a few days and Chanyeol thought that he was a bit overreacting and acting a bit too greedy but he just couldn’t help himself.

                                                                                        

 

There were just too many things Chanyeol wanted to talk to Kyungsoo about, which were left unsaid for now. And between constantly looking at the time, looking at his phone, at the photo card on his desk, Chanyeol desperately wanted to ask Kyungsoo about them and their relationship in particular.

When Kyungsoo had kissed him on the cheek on the boat and seemingly reciprocated his feelings of liking to be together, Chanyeol was over the moon to find out that Kyungsoo felt the same way he did. It was a normal thing to feel but Chanyeol still couldn't help but feel unsure of it.

 

Chanyeol liked Kyungsoo very much and he now desired to be more than just friends and roommates.

Now, he just wanted that confirmation and the words of reassurance before taking the step forward with Kyungsoo. But Kyungsoo had to be away at such a time when Chanyeol was still so high and giddy on his feelings, just desperately wanting to let it out but was unable to do so, not when the source of his feelings was literally unreachable out at sea in the middle of goodness knew where.

 

 

 

That morning on Kyungsoo’s third day straight out at sea, it began raining. The rainwater pattered onto the shingles of the rooftop, running down the incline into the roof gutters that later streamed down at the sides of the house.

Chanyeol didn’t feel like starting work just yet. Two and a half months into his stay on Jindo Island, he had finished composing three songs and was now slowly starting on a fourth.

There was still some time until the end of October when he was due to return to Seoul. Chanyeol had faith that what he had to bring home with him would be enough, although he had learned to not place too high of an expectation on it. At least he knew that he tried.

 

 

Chanyeol sat on the raised porch, under the shade as the rain continued to fall, its sound drumming on the rooftops, splashing down the gutter pipes and lightly pattering on the bare earth below.

Somehow, Chanyeol was hoping and waiting for Kyungsoo’s truck to show up down the road and appear with him in it, even if he knew that wouldn’t be very likely at the time in the middle of the day.

 

Looking up at the grey skies from the porch, Chanyeol began to worry about the rough seas because of the weather, even if it wasn’t raining too badly and the winds were barely there.

Chanyeol fretted for Kyungsoo, concerned as to how he was doing out at sea because he had heard how the weather could be unpredictable out there.

At least, Kyungsoo wasn’t alone this time and that thought comforted Chanyeol even if a little bit.

 

 

Chanyeol heard sounds of someone walking up to him and he looked behind, staring inwards to the house to see Jongin striding up to the door.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school?” Chanyeol questioned, looking up at Jongin who was standing beside him and yawning.

“It’s Saturday today. We don’t have school on Saturday,” Jongin replied.

“Oh, right, I forgot. I haven’t been back to school in a long time but back when I was still your age, we had half-day classes on Saturday,” Chanyeol recalled. 

“I heard about that. I’m glad we have Saturdays off now. As if school wasn’t hard enough already,” Jongin remarked.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol muttered, asking, “Hey, is it okay to be out at sea with the weather like this?”

“-this kind of rain? It should be okay. The weather is usually calm after the typhoon season. It usually gets rough again at the end of the year though,” Jongin answered, leaning against the frame of the sliding door.

“I see,” Chanyeol continued gazing up at the sky, “I was just asking because I was worried about Kyungsoo since he’s been out at sea for days now.”

“It’ll be fine. If it was anything bad, we’d be hearing of it by now,” Jongin assured, “I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to worry too much.”

“I hope so too,” Chanyeol lowered his gaze, stretching his legs out as he looked over his shoulder to see Jongin returning to the room.

 

 

A minute or two later, Jongin emerged from Kyungsoo’s room with a piece of paper. Jongin sat down on the wooden floorboards of the porch with Chanyeol, handing him the paper, which appeared to be a letter or announcement of some sorts.

“Here, this is for you,” Jongin said, passing the paper.

“What is it?” Chanyeol asked as he was reading it and subsequently answering his own question.

“It’s from my school,” Jongin responded, leaning back on his hands which he pressed to the floor, “We have a new headmaster after the old one retired last summer and apparently, she wants to rebrand the school to fit with the times which included having a new school song. There’s a contest now to compose the new school song. I thought of you since this is what you do for a living.”

“Can I participate though?” Chanyeol looked up from the paper and towards Jongin, “I’m not from this island and I didn’t go to the school either. Besides, you do know about my scandal and stuff.”

“It’s open to everyone as long as you know someone from the school if you didn’t go there. Besides that, hardly anyone except those who follow popular trends knows who you are here,” Jongin rolled his eyes, “You know me, obviously, and Kyungsoo-hyung went to that school too. I mean, it’s the only high school on the island and I kind of like the songs you make so I’d like it if you won the contest since the winner’s song gets to be the official school anthem.”

“I’d have to do my research first about your school then,” Chanyeol brought up, “I need the song and lyrics to relate and reflect on the school.”

“I can help you with that. Just let me know what you need,” Jongin offered.

“Okay then, I’ll see what I can do,” Chanyeol agreed, continuing to read through the paper which contained the contest details and rules.

“You’re not going to plagiarize off of another person’s song, are you?” Jongin had to confirm.

“Of course not,” Chanyeol snickered, almost laughing at the irony, “That was a one-time mistake and I’m not doing it ever again. I learned my lesson.”

“Good,” Jongin added, looking up to the ceiling momentarily and then back at Chanyeol, “By the way, do you like Kyungsoo-hyung?”

Chanyeol smiled, still continuing to read the paper, “I can’t say that I don’t.”

“You’re not denying it,” Jongin pouted, “Then why don’t you tell him how you feel?”

“How did you figure that out anyway?” Chanyeol questioned Jongin instead, somewhat rather impressed at the teenager.

“I don’t think I’m very smart but I am certainly not blind. You don’t think I notice how you two always smile and laugh around each other. Hell, the way you two look at each other leaves a lot to be wondered about what’s going on between you two,” Jongin replied, blinking at Chanyeol almost as if he was in disbelief at the question directed towards him.

“Of course,” Chanyeol smiled to himself, pretending to continue reading the paper as he too realized the truth in Jongin’s words, although it had taken someone else to actually point that out to him.

 

Chanyeol had indeed fallen hard for Kyungsoo and he was more than ready to let Kyungsoo know about it too. The timing was very unfashionably unsuitable though.

 

 

 

 

The following morning, Chanyeol was awoken by the sounds of the familiar truck revving up outside his window. Chanyeol was startled because it only meant one thing; Kyungsoo came home last night and was about leave again.

Chanyeol didn’t spend a second longer before he bolted out of bed, darted across his room and ran out into the living room and towards the door to catch Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol was too late and unlucky all at the same time. By the time he got there, Kyungsoo’s truck was seen down the road too far for Chanyeol to reach or run up to. Again, he had missed Kyungsoo and was now going into his fourth day straight of seeing the latter.

 

Chanyeol ran back into his room to grab his phone and call Kyungsoo, only to be reminded instantly that Kyungsoo didn’t have a phone he could call either.

At this point, Chanyeol was more dejected and frustrated than ever. It seemed like the universe was conspiring against him being with Kyungsoo, or so he thought. Chanyeol was going to fight against that, however. He wasn't just going to take it lying down.

 

 

 

It was a Sunday and Jongin had no school either. Therefore, Jongin was still asleep on a spare futon on the floor of Kyungsoo’s bedroom.

Jongin’s bicycle was there outside the house against the wall. Chanyeol quickly got dressed, grabbed his wallet and slipped the photo card into the casing of his phone before “borrowing” Jongin’s bicycle and cycling it down all the way to the dock, hoping he’d catch up with Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol remembered that the last time he had done this in a rush; he had ended up falling off the dock and into the sea. He was determined to not let that happen a second time even though the circumstances leading it up seemed to feel rather similar.

 

 

When Chanyeol arrived at the dock, he properly parked the bicycle and leaned it against a sea wall that elevated the buildings from the sea level. Kyungsoo walked down to the dock and spotted a fisherman he recognized, asking him where Kyungsoo was.

It just so happened that Kyungsoo had just left out for sea again and Chanyeol’s heart sank to the pits of his stomach when he heard that, especially when he was told that it wasn’t exact when Kyungsoo would return from sea.

 

 

 

Believing that Kyungsoo would be gone for days again, Chanyeol wandered around the town center while pushing the bicycle around, downhearted and very disappointed.

Chanyeol stopped at a bus stop in the middle of the town center, leaning the bicycle against the railings as he took out the photo card from his phone case to look at it again. Chanyeol smiled a little, the picture comforting him even for just a bit.

Chanyeol held it up against the view of the shop buildings in front of the bus stop from across the road, admiring how it looked like as a group of tourists appeared in his view, chattering rather loudly as they were following a tour guide holding up a flag. Chanyeol quickly stored the photo card back into his phone case when the tour group approached the bus stop.

 

 

The tour group seemed to be speaking in Japanese and Chanyeol assumed they were so, as they piled up under the bus stop with Chanyeol. Chanyeol understood basic Japanese and could make out most of their conversation, which consisted of them talking about the places they were going to see that day.

The tour guide, a male just slightly younger than Chanyeol was not a stranger to him. He was the same person who worked on Kyungsoo’s family’s farm during the harvest season as his extra side job. Chanyeol had been acquainted with him when they had worked together to pick tangerines.

 

Seeing that he was there, Chanyeol was invited to come along on the tour for free, as Chanyeol was basically a tourist on the island too.

Not feeling motivated to make music and still feeling a bit down for missing Kyungsoo again that day, Chanyeol agreed to join in on the tour group, leaving the bicycle at the bus stop and sitting at the back of the bus which arrived a bit later.

 

 

 

Chanyeol joined in on the tour where some of the Japanese tourists attempted to make conversation with him in Japanese, thinking he was one of them. Chanyeol politely answered back in his basic Japanese that he was actually Korean but not from around there either.

The tour group visited various places on the island which Chanyeol had been to and some places he hadn’t been to either. The places Chanyeol had visited were such as the cultural center on the mountainside, the museum and the famous statue of Admiral Lee by the sea.

The places he had heard of but never got the chance to go to was the Jindo Dog museum and a cultural village site within the complex of a traditional house, which was famous for its exhibitions and a shooting location for television dramas.

Jongin even texted Chanyeol while he was on the tour, asking where his bicycle was. Chanyeol had to admit through text that he had indeed borrowed Jongin’s bicycle yet again and that it was there at the only bus stop in town.

 

 

In the late afternoon, the tour ended with the bus returning to the bus stop in town, dropping off the tourists to return to their accommodations. Chanyeol got off there too and thanked the guide, bidding him goodbye.

Chanyeol couldn’t say he enjoyed it completely because of his mood but it was a more than a welcome distraction. At least, he wasn’t stuck at home unable to do anything, being unproductive and wallowing in self-pity. On top of that, he had gotten a free tour out of it too, which wasn’t something that came by every day.

It also appeared that Jongin had retrieved his bicycle from the bus stop like he said he would, which left Chanyeol to walk home as his only option.

 

 

 

Chanyeol walked home- or rather attempted to- until he realized that he was good as lost. He wasn’t paying attention and his mind had been distracted with his thoughts. He had just been walking and going wherever his feet were taking him, not taking note of his surroundings.

Chanyeol realized he was lost when the walk home from the town center was taking longer than it usually would and when he recognized that this was certainly not the right way home.

 

The road was a small one with only two lanes for either flow of traffic, located on the side of a cliff by the sea. It was part of the same road Chanyeol had been on with Kyungsoo when they had “borrowed” Jongin’s bike to go sightseeing around the island.

When Chanyeol remembered that, he knew he was lost for sure and a bit ways off from home. As if the day or week couldn’t get any worse than that. In fact, this year was probably the hardest one Chanyeol could recall ever having, sans his almost two-year stint in the military.

 

 

 

Seeing the beach to his right, Chanyeol sighed and climbed down the rocks and the stairs on the side, to move down from the road and towards the sandy beach. At least the good view seemed to soften the blow that was his hurt feelings.

It wasn’t the same beach that Chanyeol frequented sometimes when he was in need of inspiration but it was on the same island anyway.

This beach was quiet and he was the only person there at the time, with the evening sun closing to the horizon. According to the time and weather app on his phone, the skies would be clear for the rest of the day and the sun would set in an hour.

 

 

Chanyeol could actually use the app on his phone to get back home but he didn’t care for that now, although he was grateful for advancements in technology which allowed him that option. If Chanyeol were born in the medieval period, he guessed that he’d never lived until adulthood at this rate.

The sea breeze blew gently, feeling nice and cool on his exposed skin. Chanyeol sat on the sand, pressing his legs to his chest as he faced the ocean and enjoyed the tranquil sight in front of him.

Chanyeol snickered, talking to himself as if he was resigning himself to defeat, “Looks I’m really lost.”

 

Chanyeol shed a single tear, pitying himself a bit, but that was it. Chanyeol pried the back of his phone case away from the phone itself, so he could pull out the transparent photo card he had printed at the shop a few days ago. It was a picture of him and Kyungsoo together, which he had taken while they were wearing the suits for the funeral. The background had been edited out and only their figures were printed onto the transparent photo card.

Chanyeol held up it against the view of the ocean and the almost setting sun in the distance, smiling to himself a bit as he started to notice that Kyungsoo had become a source of his happiness.

 

 

Before Chanyeol could put the photo card away again, he heard the sound of a vehicle’s horn, honking most likely at him from the road up above the beach.

Chanyeol turned around to look and saw Kyungsoo’s truck parked at the side of the road, with Kyungsoo himself waving down at him from the driver's seat.

 

Chanyeol gasped in a pleasant surprise, immediately rising to his feet and waving back vigorously from the beach with the photo card in his other hand.

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol called out, smiling big and wide as Kyungsoo approached him, walking down the sand to greet him.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo continued to wave, moving closer and standing close in front of Chanyeol with the ocean to their sides.

“How did you find me?” Chanyeol asked eagerly, beyond elated. It was so simple how his mood went from zero to hundred with just Kyungsoo’s presence.

“I was on the way home and I thought I saw a familiar person down on the beach. I thought it was you and it turns out that I’m right,” Kyungsoo answered, smiling wide too as he pushed some of his hair from his face, strewn by the wind.

“-but I thought this is not the right way home and that I’m lost,” Chanyeol added on.

“This is the way home,” Kyungsoo chuckled, “We’ve used this road several times before but not always. It leads inland too, you know.”

“So I wasn’t lost, after all?” Chanyeol wasn’t sure to feel relieved or just dumb.

“Not even close,” Kyungsoo shook his head.

 

Chanyeol began to laugh, tears forming at the crease of his eyes, almost as salty as the sea breeze around them. Chanyeol wiped the tears with the back of his hand, feeling happy but somewhat terrible at the same time.

“I missed you,” Chanyeol confessed, “I didn’t think you’d come home this evening. I thought you’d be away at sea for a few more days again.”

“I won’t be doing that for a while now,” Kyungsoo replied.

“Next time, please tell me before you decide to go away like that,” Chanyeol advised, “You really messed with my heart there.”

“I’m sorry. I will do that next time. It’s something normal to me and I even overlooked to tell you about it. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Kyungsoo apologized.

“No, it’s alright,” Chanyeol shook his head, wiping away the last tear at the corner of his eye, “I guess I missed you so much that it hurts too.”

“Were you looking for me because I haven’t sung that Park Sang Cheol song for you yet?” Kyungsoo supposed.

“To be honest, I completely forgot about that,” Chanyeol admitted, “-but it’s not that. I just wanted to show you this.”

 

 

Chanyeol lifted the photo card in his hand and handed it to Kyungsoo.

“Oh, it’s a picture of us,” Kyungsoo described, his face lighting up.

“Yeah, I have the picture of the fish I promised to print for you too but it’s at home. This is the thing I wanted to show you actually. I know it sounds stupid now but I really wanted you to see it,” Chanyeol honestly mentioned.

Taking Kyungsoo’s hand into his, Chanyeol lifted their hands to hold up the photo card towards the sea ahead, “See, if you do this, it looks like we’re actually there with the sea in the background. You can do this at other places and see how it looks like too. I chose a picture of us so it’ll look like we’re in many different places together.”

“I like it!” Kyungsoo expressed.

“You do?” Chanyeol uttered back.

“I do,” Kyungsoo nodded, “-but it’s not really necessary because we have something better.”

“What is it?” Chanyeol asked, lowering his head slightly to look at Kyungsoo close next to him.

“We have each other and we’re right here. I like the picture and I think it’s nice but it doesn’t beat the fact that we’re here right now next to one another,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“You really think that way? Do you like me too?” Chanyeol questioned.

“Do I need to make it more obvious than that?” Kyungsoo half-smiled and giggled, “-I think I’ve dropped you enough hints already, haven’t I?”

“-I guess so,” Chanyeol tried to recall the incidents Kyungsoo was trying to refer to.

“It’s a yes or no question, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo light-heartedly mentioned, “-but I think it’s alright. I think you get it.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol paused before resuming, “-I do get it.”

 

 

Chanyeol rested his hand on the side of Kyungsoo’s face, cupping the latter’s cheek, feeling the skin against his own as he traced his fingers down the jawline and stopping to just tilt Kyungsoo’s chin up towards his own face.

“Can I kiss you for real now?” Chanyeol requested, leaning his face and hunching forwards to meet Kyungsoo’s and make up for their staggering height difference.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo agreed, closing his eyes and moving his hands to hold onto Chanyeol’s arms while still holding the photo card in one hand.

 

Chanyeol too closed his eyes, eyelids fluttering shut as he moved in to press a kiss on Kyungsoo’s jaw bone instead.

“-but I thought-“ Kyungsoo protested, only to be silenced a split second later by a pair of lips against his own.

Kyungsoo smiled into the kiss, opening his eyes slightly to look at Chanyeol closer to him than ever, before shutting his eyes again and parting his lips properly for Chanyeol, who also moved his hand to hold Kyungsoo’s neck and support his head up.

 

It was brief and they pulled away from each other, laughing a little as the sun was setting in the horizon, painting orange streaks in the clouds as small waves continued to lap up against the sand.

Kyungsoo was right. The real thing which they had right there was better.

 

 


	10. Of Islands and Camping attempts

 

Chanyeol sighed, holding a small card-sized calendar which he carried with him almost everywhere in his wallet. He had gotten it earlier in the year from some supermarket as a freebie that came with his groceries purchase. It was now October 1st and Chanyeol stroked out the month of September on the calendar card with a black pen. 

On the last day of October, Chanyeol’s rental agreement in Kyungsoo’s house would end and on that same day, he already had a flight booked from Mokpo and back to Seoul. Even before he moved to Jindo Island, he had already planned on how long he would be staying.

It would be Halloween and Chanyeol was certain that he wouldn’t be attending SM Entertainment’s annual Halloween party. Not because he would be too busy unpacking after returning home in over three months and not because he didn't have anything to wear but also because he didn’t want to face all the people he knew just so soon.

 

He had thought that the time he spent hiding here on the island would help clear his mind and give him some allowance to accept that he would have to do something about his problems back home but that didn’t seem like the case yet.

Chanyeol wasn’t ready for that yet and frankly, he didn’t even know if he ever would at this point. If he were honest, Chanyeol actually didn’t look forward to going back to Seoul. Living on the island permanently seemed like a better idea as the days passed but he knew that wasn’t plausible.

However, Chanyeol had no skills that would be useful at all on the island, he believed. He didn't have a boat to fish with and no land to farm on. Even the cultural center on the island which had a music department wouldn’t suit him as they were focused entirely on folk and traditional songs, which Chanyeol couldn’t say he was a fan of at all.

 

 

 

Still seated on the chair in front of his desk, Chanyeol browsed through the folders on his computer, looking for the song samples and drafts he had been working on.

For now, Chanyeol was rather satisfied with what he had managed to produce while he was on the island. With some time left and not feeling any pressure to make new songs, Chanyeol was only reworking and editing the four songs he had composed, leaving him ample time to write the school song for the island’s only high school and have Jongin submit it to the school committee.

 

 

Clicking away at the mouse with his right hand while his left hand was supporting his chin up, Chanyeol also came across the four songs he had finished recording while he had been on the island.

The first song, tentatively titled “Hero” with a short traditional sample, had been initially rejected but Chanyeol hadn’t given up on it yet. The second, third and fourth songs were untitled as of now but Chanyeol was rather fond of the fourth song’s lyrics because it touched on the topic of appreciation and gratefulness.

Chanyeol smiled to himself, clicking on the audio file and hearing the song play over the headphones he was wearing. The song reminded him very much of Kyungsoo because when Chanyeol had been writing it, all he thought about was Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo had been a rather useful and inspirational muse to Chanyeol.

 

While Chanyeol wasn’t so ready to deal with his problems and the people he had hurt through his actions just yet, he was more than ready to show off these songs to the executive producers and finally prove to them that he hadn’t lost his touch.

That he hadn’t been reduced to just being a plagiarizer. That he was still LOEY, a talented and famed music producer in South Korea known for chart-topping hits. The general public perception and reception on his soon to be released songs were what really mattered to Chanyeol.

Right now and for the past few months, that was all Chanyeol could really care for.

 

 

 

When it occurred to Chanyeol that he hadn’t really let anyone else listen to his songs just yet, Chanyeol sought the opinion of someone else so he could properly gauge what others thought of his new songs.

As a creator and a veteran in making music, Chanyeol knew that he might have a cognitive bias towards his own works and might think that it was way better or worse than it really was.

 

 

It was a Tuesday and Kyungsoo had taken the day off. Chanyeol knew this because Kyungsoo had said so the previous evening.

Since Chanyeol had been sulking over Kyungsoo being away at sea for days without him knowing of it, Kyungsoo had promised that he’d now keep Chanyeol informed of his plans as much as he could.

Chanyeol himself wasn’t sure of what their relationship was with each other now but he thought it was something between friends and boyfriends, hovering in the middle of being more than friends but not enough to call each other boyfriends just yet.

 

 

Chanyeol got up from his desk and left the room, entering the living room where he saw Kyungsoo, who was sitting on the floor in front of the low table. The television was turned on to keep him company but Kyungsoo wasn’t really watching the 10 am soap dramas that were a favorite among housewives.

Kyungsoo was servicing his fishing reels which were laid out on the table. On the floor beside him was an open toolbox with items such as oil, clothes, and screwdrivers of various sizes.

 

“Hello~,” Kyungsoo sang as soon as he saw Chanyeol walking out the room.

“Hey,” Chanyeol said in return, standing near the table with his hands on his hips, watching Kyungsoo doing maintenance on his beloved fishing reels.

“How’s the songwriting?” Kyungsoo beamed, tilting his head up to look at Chanyeol hovering above him.

“It’s good, I haven’t done much today but I need to ask a favor from you,” Chanyeol requested, getting straight to the point.

“Yeah? Do you need help with anything?” Kyungsoo pondered, spinning the recently oiled fishing reel to test out its rotations.

“Can you come into my room for a while?” Chanyeol gestured, “I wanted you to have a listen to the songs I made. Then, you can tell me if you like it or not, or just what you think about it.”

“Oh, really, can I?” Kyungsoo perked up, “I don’t know much about the songs you write though. I think Jongin is better for this, don’t you think?”

“Of course you can. It’s alright and your opinion really matters a lot to me,” Chanyeol assured, pulling Kyungsoo by the hand, “Come.”

“Okay then,” Kyungsoo complied, putting the reel and equipment down on the table, letting Chanyeol gently pull him away.

 

 

 

Once they entered Chanyeol’s room, he pulled out the chair from his desk and patted on the empty seat, beckoning Kyungsoo to sit down in front of the computer.

Kyungsoo did so and sat down as Chanyeol scurried to adjust the headphones so it would fit Kyungsoo nicely; helping to put it over the latter’s ears.

 

Chanyeol leaned over from behind the chair and over Kyungsoo sitting down on it, essentially caging Kyungsoo with his own body and two arms where one hand was navigating the cursor on the screen with the mouse and another hand was firmly holding onto the table for balance.

Kyungsoo felt Chanyeol’s front brushing against his back slightly and it did make him feel a bit tingled and giddy, getting excited over small gestures and just being close to each other like this. Kyungsoo had a grin on his face, no doubt.

                                                                                   

 

“Okay, here we go,” Chanyeol announced, double-clicking onto the song file on the computer. Within a few seconds, the audio player was launching and playing the song for Kyungsoo to hear. Chanyeol also made sure to adjust the volume so Kyungsoo could hear it clearly but also not too loud to hurt his ears.

Kyungsoo bobbed his head a little to the songs playing over the headphones, nodding along as he occasionally glanced up at Chanyeol who smiled back and made hand gestures to tell Kyungsoo to just keep on listening to all the four songs he had written so far on the island.

 

Each song was at least three and a half minutes long and with four songs to be heard, Chanyeol ended up leaning against the desk and going on his phone for a bit, while waiting until Kyungsoo had finished listening to all the songs.

 

 

 

Once the songs were over, Chanyeol put his phone down and helped Kyungsoo to take off the headphones.

Then Chanyeol began asking, “Did you like the songs? What do you think of it? How was it?”

“The first one had some traditional music in the background. Is that the one from when we went to the cultural center?” Kyungsoo asked, recalling.

“Yup, that’s the one,” Chanyeol confirmed.

“Well, I thought that song was nice but it kind of felt a bit…loud, I guess?” Kyungsoo commented, “Your voice kind of felt drowned out when compared to the music. I would have liked to hear your voice clearer, I think.”

“That’s a good opinion,” Chanyeol pressed some fingers to his chin as he thought of it, “When I get back to Seoul, I will re-master and record the vocals again better with a professional demo singer. I don’t have really good voice recording facilities here but it can be improved at a proper studio. My voice is just for the sample but you’re right, I need to work on that. So, what about the other songs?”

“The second one sounded quite…fun,” Kyungsoo’s face lit up as he remembered the song, “I felt happy and bubbly to listen to it. It’s quite catchy too since the lyrics were repetitive.”

Chanyeol nodded, agreeing, “Yeah, that’s the standard cute concept for younger idol groups. Easy to remember, easy to dance along and can be memorable too. It’s “safe” but it’s really a cookie cutter tough. Then again, I’m not trying to be different and revolutionary. I just want to be acknowledged by my peers and the public again. Go on; tell me about the other two songs too.”

“The third song was very soothing,” Kyungsoo continued, “I felt like I was on the sea and fishing when I listened to it. I thought it was going to be a slow song but the background music and beats made it feel a bit more upbeat than a ballad. What genre was it?”

“It was RnB, its short for rhythm and blues,” Chanyeol explained, “It’s quite popular in bars and coffee houses in Seoul these days. Those kinds of songs I write usually go to soloists or duets.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo expressed, “Then, that was my favorite one among all the four.”

“You like it?” Chanyeol smiled.

“I do,” Kyungsoo mentioned, “It’s even better because you wrote it. I don’t listen to songs very often but sometimes when I’m home and I leave the television on, there are some songs being performed on those weekly chart shows. But if I knew that you wrote the song, I’d listen to it anytime just for you.”  

“I’m glad you like my songs,” Chanyeol heaved a sigh of relief, sitting on the edge of the bed, just a few feet away from the chair and desk.

“What’s wrong with them,” Kyungsoo was slightly perplexed, “I thought they were very good.”

“Yeah, I know. I trust you,” Chanyeol folded his arms over his chest, “-but I’m just afraid my bosses at Seoul won’t like it. It’s a tough market, you know. Even if gets past my bosses, the public reception can either make or break me so I’m really worried about that. I need to make something impactful.”

Kyungsoo remained silent as he let Chanyeol talk, sitting sideways on the chair so Kyungsoo could properly face him.

 

 

Moving his arms from over his chest and towards his head, pushing his hair back, feeling quite stressed, Chanyeol said, “I still have one month left here and I think I have enough songs. I have time to improve the songs I have now but I just feel so uninspired right now.”

Chanyeol continued complaining, “It’s a bit hard to work here alone because I’ve been so used to all the facilities and getting help from other professionals in this industry. I’ve been signed to SM Entertainment, a very big company if you didn’t know, right after I’ve graduated and I have had the privilege of a wide platform to make my music. And now I just-,” Chanyeol shrugged, ending his rant there.

“I’m sorry, that must have been hard on you,” Kyungsoo sympathized, stretching an arm out to close the gap between them, resting his hand on Chanyeol’s knee as an act of reassurance, “I can’t help you with making music because I don’t know much about it but I will support you with whatever decision you make.”

“Well, you can help by taking me around the area to see new places and help me find inspiration,” Chanyeol grinned, wiggling his eyebrow.

“We can go somewhere next week on my day off!” Kyungsoo suggested, “-but I really don’t know where else to take you. I feel like you’ve seen and visited every place interesting on this island.”

“Yeah, I really don’t have a place in mind either,” Chanyeol grunted.

 

Kyungsoo hummed in thought while Chanyeol looked up towards the ceiling, trying to think of something too even though that he would come up with nothing. Chanyeol was really expecting on Kyungsoo to be making the decision here.

Kyungsoo then snapped his fingers, “Aha! I know where we should go next week.”

“Nice, so where should we go?” Chanyeol smiled with his mouth open, eager to hear what Kyungsoo had come up with.

“We’ll go to Gwanmaedo. It’s a smaller island south of here but also within the Jindo jurisdiction. We can take my boat there and go to visit the place. We can even stay for the night on the camping site. Didn’t you say that you were on a television show once where you had to go camping but you were disappointed that the whole thing was scripted?” Kyungsoo brought up.

“You remember that!?” Chanyeol exclaimed, “I didn’t even remember about it until you brought it up. I’m impressed that you remembered it.”

“I think my memory is quite alright,” Kyungsoo replied, “So, do you want to go? If you do, I’ll arrange the trip there. It’s about 2.5 hours away with my fishing vessel. We don’t have to take the ferry in that case.”

“Hold on,” Chanyeol grabbed his phone and started searching up the island online, “Let me see what we can do there.”

“Oh, people mostly go there for the national park on the island. There are a few shops but that’s it. Only 500 or so people live on the island. They didn’t even have enough people to keep operating the elementary and middle school on the island,” Kyungsoo informed, “-the children who need to study live here on Jindo during the school year and only go back to Gwanmaedo during the holidays.”

“The pictures online look pretty though,” Chanyeol stated, scrolling through the vacation pictures taken on the island and posted online, “Have you been here before?”

“Yeah, I went a few years ago in the summer with the family. We went along with some of my father’s friends who lived in Seoul and had come to visit,” Kyungsoo answered.

“Is it alright to go there at this time of the year though?” Chanyeol questioned, “-I mean, its October already and people usually go do stuff like this in the summer, don’t they?”

“Well, we’re far south enough so it’s still temperate here since it gets cold later. It’s just nice actually to go at this time of the year. When I went in the middle of summer, it was just uncomfortably humid and hot. There were mosquitoes everywhere at the campsite,” Kyungsoo recollected.

“I think you’re right,” Chanyeol accepted as he went back to his phone and searched up activities he could do on Gwanmaedo, “I have wanted to go on a proper camping trip outside in nature since that reality show my company made me go to, without all those cameras and production crew telling me what to do.”

“So, is that a yes?” Kyungsoo gushed.

“Yes, I’ll go,” Chanyeol affirmed.

“Yay,” Kyungsoo clapped his hands together once, “It’s going to be fun.”

“You really like stuff like these, don’t you?” Chanyeol assumed, snickering.

“Not really if you’re going to compare it to fishing but because I get to go with you, that’s what makes it fun,” Kyungsoo revealed with a smile.

 

 

 

Before Chanyeol set out on the camping trip on Gwanmaedo with Kyungsoo, he was given a list of items and supplies he might need on the trip. The last time Chanyeol had been on a camping trip which was during the filming of the variety show, the staff and producers had prepared everything for him, so Chanyeol never had the experience of making the preparations himself.

Thankfully, everything he needed was sold in the various stores around the island.

 

Kyungsoo would be supplying the tents, sleeping beds and the means of transportation to get there, which was his boat, so Chanyeol would take care of the rest.

They were only going to be there for one night and the campsite management provided a pit for cooking and utensils. Therefore, they didn’t need to bring much and since it was off-season, there wouldn’t be too many people either before the campsite was closed for the season in November.

Chanyeol could say that he was actually excited throughout the preparations for the camping trip.

 

 

Jongin later found out that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were going on a camping trip on Gwanmaedo the next week and without him too. Jongin sulked a bit when he heard of it but it wasn't like he would be able to go with school anyway.

 

 

 

 

Early in the morning on the following Tuesday, as the sun was still rising, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol had already arrived at the dock with their bag packs. While Kyungsoo prepared the boat to leave for Gwanmaedo, Chanyeol helped put away all their equipment before they set sail.

 

Chanyeol didn’t really think he had sea sickness, thinking that he was maybe overreacting the first time he had been on Kyungsoo’s boat three months ago. Because this time, they were going out farther at sea and everything seemed completely fine.

The sea was calm and the skies were clear with scattered clouds. It was still nicely warm this time of the year. Without question, the air here was significantly fresher and better unlike in Seoul which was prone to dust and smog in the air especially during winter. The weather here was now becoming Chanyeol’s favorite.

 

 

 

In less than three hours on constant cruising speed and only slowing down when they approached land, they arrived at the harbor on Gwanmaedo Island.

The harbor here was significantly smaller with fewer boats and there were fewer buildings lining up against the shore. The boats here were smaller too, unlike the larger boats Chanyeol saw on Jindo Island. The buildings were smaller and appeared to look older too, some of them still made out of wood.

The scheduled ferry carrying passengers to the island had not arrived yet so the area was rather deserted. 

Chanyeol used to think that Jindo Island was too small, underpopulated and empty. Seeing Gwanmaedo certainly made him change his mind now. Chanyeol was unable to fathom one’s decision to continue living in such a place permanently and not just for a short vacation because there was really nothing here.

 

 

 

After Kyungsoo registered his boat and arrival at a small office near the harbor, he and Chanyeol hopped into a car provided by the national park’s management office, which would bring them all the way to the foot of their trail near the campsite.

It was a short drive that didn’t take more than ten minutes on small roads with barely any traffic, as expected of an island with a small and aging population. The scenery of open plains and fields was a bit similar to that of Jindo Island, except with fewer houses that were smaller and shabbier looking.

 

 

They were dropped off at the foot of the hiking trail nearby the campsite. At the time of their arrival, there were just two other people setting up their tents at the campsite.

With Kyungsoo doing most of the work and Chanyeol recalling what he had learned on the internet prior to the trip, they too set up their tents at the campsite before beginning the hike.

 

They hired a local tour guide to take them half of the way through the trail which cut through in a forest on a hill facing the seaside. Due to the small size of the island, one was never far from the ocean even in the middle of Gwanmaedo.

After they parted ways with their tour guide, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo had to navigate the rest of their hike through signboards available throughout the trail and maps which they had obtained from the park management office.

 

 

 

Sometimes during the hike despite the cloudy weather, Chanyeol in particular, found it getting warmer as the day progressed into the afternoon. Early October was evidently still war, especially in the afternoon.

Chanyeol was wearing a snapback hat that day and when he started to feel sweaty, he turned it around, wearing it in reverse as he panted for breath with his hands on his waist, stopping momentarily on the hiking path.

The slight incline of the stone path and its uneven surface tired Chanyeol out fast. But at least, it seemed that the insects and bugs weren’t that active this time of the year. Going here in the summer would have been a nuisance with all that, just like Kyungsoo had warned him about. 

 

 

“Hold up, wait,” Chanyeol halted, putting his bag pack down and leaning against the wooden hand railings on the side of the path, built to assist the hikers, “Can we take a break for a few minutes?”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo piped up from in front of Chanyeol, always seeming to be the faster one and several steps ahead.

“Thank you,” Chanyeol gasped, sitting down on the worn stone hiking path, drinking water from his bottle and taking off his cap to fan himself with.

“Do you want to eat something?” Kyungsoo offered, referring the packet of chips and junk food he had in his bag pack, meant for snacking.

“It’s alright. I’m not hungry. I just need to sit for a while,” Chanyeol politely declined as he heard the sounds of a frog croaking in the forest somewhere.

 

Kyungsoo too heard the sounds of the frog croaking and noticed that it was quite close to where they were. While still holding the walking stick, Kyungsoo carefully sifted through the bushes and shrubs in search of the toad.

“What are you doing?” Chanyeol scrunched his nose, observing Kyungsoo who had his head stuck halfway in the bushes.

“Looking for the frog,” Kyungsoo replied, as he was seen sticking one hand into the bushes and pulling something out.

Chanyeol shrugged. He still didn’t quite understand Kyungsoo’s point of view in life nor did he agree with it but Chanyeol accepted and tolerated that it was just the person Kyungsoo was.

 

 

 

Chanyeol was looking towards to his side at the rest of the trail they still had to cover when he heard the sounds of the frog croaking again, except that this time it was so close to his ears, Chanyeol swore that the frog was right there beside him.

Chanyeol whipped his head around towards the source of the sound and saw a brown frog the size of a newborn kitten just a foot away from his face.

Kyungsoo was holding up the frog close to his face, smiling as he did so.

 

“Oh my god!” Chanyeol yelled, startled and falling a bit backward while still seated with his back towards the wooden guide railings along the path.

Kyungsoo laughed as the frog continued to croak, still and not appearing like it wanted to hop out of Kyungsoo’s hand either.

“It’s just a harmless common frog,” Kyungsoo chuckled.

“Why’d you pick that up?” Chanyeol looked like he was about to cry, except he wasn’t really going to.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll put it back where I found it later on,” Kyungsoo assured, “Do you want to kiss the frog?”

“Why would I want to kiss the frog?” Chanyeol asked in disbelief.

“Well, do you know the children’s fairytale about the frog and the princess? The princess kisses the frog and it becomes a handsome prince,” Kyungsoo mentioned.

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that in real life,” Chanyeol stated, lifting a finger.

“I know,” Kyungsoo smiled mischievously, “I was just teasing you.”

“Just put the frog back, please,” Chanyeol requested, putting his cap back on and standing back up again.

Kyungsoo did as he was asked to, putting the frog gently down at around the same spot in the bushes where he found it. “There you go, little one,” Kyungsoo muttered softly, as the frog leaped out of his hand and away into the forest.

 

 

“Okay, let’s go,” Kyungsoo announced, pulling on the straps of his bag pack as he turned around to face Chanyeol and resume their hike again.

Just as Kyungsoo had turned around, Chanyeol quickly swooped in and pecked Kyungsoo on the cheek, planting a soft kiss there.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo couldn’t resist breaking out in giggles as he flushed a little and rubbed the spot Chanyeol had kissed with the back of his palm.

“I’m not a frog prince and you’re not a princess but you don’t have to go kiss a frog now,” Chanyeol teased, joining in on the banter.

“Alright, I’ll take that then,” Kyungsoo linked arms with Chanyeol, resuming their hike while holding onto each other.

  
Although, that didn’t last very long and they soon learned that it was quite challenging to hike down the trail while holding onto another person.

 

 

 

 

Eventually, they arrived at the hanging bridge between two large rock cliffs with a view of the entire side of the island and the ocean that stretched out below and far beyond there.

Chanyeol got rather giddy and nervous to walk on the bridge so they didn’t get to stay long on it before passing over to the other side and heading over to the waterfall.

 

The waterfall was small and the drop was just a few meters at the tallest. Although, the water was clear, fresh and the smooth rocks could be seen at the side of the pool and below the surface.

There was a strictly “no swimming” warning around the waterfall too so that was out of the question, not like they were planning to take a dip inside anyway. Although, they did stop to wash their hands, feet, and faces with the cool running water before continuing on their way towards the beach.

Chanyeol surely stopped to take pictures at almost every stop and attraction they came across during their hike.

 

                                                     

At the end of the trail, they arrived at the rocky beach, although the waves were small and appeared calm. This time they weren’t alone and there were about two other pairs of people hanging around at the beach.

“It looks different than on Jindo,” Chanyeol observed, stretching his arms out wide the rush of the breeze coming from the ocean.

“Yeah, there's a difference in geography. It’s rockier here and more hilly on Jindo,” Kyungsoo remarked, twirling the walking stick in his grasp.

“It’s still nice though,” Chanyeol praised, “-but there’s not much to see except we can maybe walk down the shoreline and I can take pictures too, I guess.”

“So, I guess it’s time to turn around and head back?” Kyungsoo pondered, reading the time on his wristwatch to tell that it was around two in the afternoon and that they would have less than four hours of sunlight left.

“Sure, let’s sit down here for a while first before we go,” Chanyeol suggested, wiping some of the sweat formed around his forehead.

 

Kyungsoo finally got to eat the junk food and snacks he had been bringing along in his bag pack throughout the hike. He was actually hungry for the most part but was too reserved to bring it up and having to stop their hike, wanting to wait and see if Chanyeol would get hungry too so they could eat together.

Constantly thinking of the food and hearing the plastic rustling around in his bag pack whenever he shifted certainly didn’t help either, except to further fuel his hunger.

 

Then, after a short lunch which consisted of junk food and bottled water while facing the rocky beach, they packed up and left, going down the same way they had used to get there.

 

 

 

This time, on the way back to the campsite, they took another path which they had skipped earlier on. This path, with a signboard notifying the direction, would lead them to the island’s former and only middle school which was now abandoned for a few years.

The building’s design and layout were rather old but the building was still considered safe and sturdy enough to be open for explorers.

 

They weren’t alone as there were a small group of tourists there too while exploring the two-story school building which was literally just one block and had a total of three classrooms in total. The desks and blackboard in the classrooms were rather aged when compared to school facilities in the city.

It reminded Chanyeol of the type of classrooms he saw in old pictures and television shows from a decade or two ago when big glass louvered windows used to be a structural fashion in older buildings.

Nonetheless, it still seemed like an interesting find for someone who would be interested in the urban exploration of a decaying landscape. Not that Chanyeol could say he was a big fan of.

 

 

 

 

When they arrived back at their campsite, which was in the middle of a pine forest not far from the beach, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo broke out in laughter to find out that their tent had been blown away by the wind but their things still there and intact because the tent footprint was not attached to the tent itself.

Apparently, a strong gust of wind had blown away their tent and not just theirs, because they saw other campers scampering to gather their stuff and try to fix their blown-away tents.

Unfortunate as it was, both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo thought it was very amusing. 

 

 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo did find their tent, tens of meters away from where it last was, although it was rather damaged, bent and the canvas- torn. Chanyeol was relieved to find out that the small ukulele he had brought along and left at the campsite was untouched.

The campsite management offered to rent them one of their tents but they both declined as their sleeping bags were still intact, choosing to spend the night under the clear sky as it was not expected to rain anytime soon.

 

 

 

After showering in the outhouse provided by the campsite facility, Kyungsoo started a fire in their individual fire pit. The fire was just to keep warm and provide light because they didn’t plan on cooking anything, although they could choose to share with the campers if they so wished to.

Sitting around and huddled close to the fire in the comfortably cool night, under the canopy of the tall pine trees and the stars which were visible in the sky that night, Chanyeol played several chords from songs he had written on the ukulele he had brought along.

Chanyeol had wanted to bring his acoustic guitar along and although it was light, it was still too big to carry around in the middle of the forest like this.

 

 

The other campers beside Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s site were getting rather loud and rowdy as the night passed, obviously drunk because the smell of alcohol was very strong in the air.

Wanting some privacy, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol headed down to the beach just a short walk from their campsite.

 

It was quieter here even with the roaring ocean and the waves lapping up on the sand. The stars were very bright in the sky when they were so far from the city. The fire and lights from the campsite just nearby also helped to illuminate the beach enough for them.

Chanyeol continued playing the ukulele, singing his songs for Kyungsoo who laid his head down gently on Chanyeol’s shoulder. Kyungsoo didn’t know most of Chanyeol’s songs but he enjoyed it nonetheless, as long as it was Chanyeol.

                                         

 

 

Then, Chanyeol began to play the fourth song he had composed while staying on Jindo, the one he hadn’t gotten Kyungsoo to comment on because he had been sidetracked by something else at the time.

When Kyungsoo heard the song and remembered that he had yet to tell Chanyeol what he thought about it too, Kyungsoo immediately lifted his head from Chanyeol’s shoulder but still held onto the latter’s upper arm.

“Wait!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, “That song is the one I haven’t told you my opinion on.”

“Yeah, I realize that too now,” Chanyeol chuckled a bit.

“How could I forget such a thing?” Kyungsoo seemed to scold himself, “I thought that this song was the most unique one I’ve heard so far. I don’t think I’ve heard something like this before and I think it’s nice like that. The lyrics were outstanding too. What is the name of the song anyway?”

“I’m glad you like the song. I wasn’t trying to emulate anything trendy or popular when I wrote it. I just did it on my own tastes and accord,” Chanyeol acknowledged, “I haven’t named any of the songs actually, except the first one which is named ‘Hero’. But I was thinking of you a lot when I wrote this song, so I guess I’ll just call it ‘Fisherman from the South’ for now.”

Kyungsoo laughed, covering his mouth with his hand, “Are you really going to name it that? What will your bosses in Seoul say about that?”

“It’s just a working title so it’s alright. It’ll most likely be changed depending on the artist and the concept they’re using if they do end up taking the song,” Chanyeol cleared up.

“Okay then,” Kyungsoo leaned his back down on Chanyeol’s shoulder, facing the sea and continuing to hug on the latter’s arm.

Chanyeol too leaned into the touch, resting the side of his head against Kyungsoo’s.

“I’m very happy here with you,” Kyungsoo confessed.                                       

“Me too,” Chanyeol returned, smiling even though he knew Kyungsoo could not see that.

 

 

 

That night, they decided to sleep under the sky and the stars with the roar of the ocean in the distance, even after the campsite management went to offer them another tent again.

Even though they had individual sleeping bags, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo pulled it close to each other so they could sleep together almost.

 

The next morning, Chanyeol woke up first to find that Kyungsoo had somehow managed to wiggle outside of his sleeping bag and slept on top of it instead, huddling close to Chanyeol but still covered under a blanket.

Seeing that the campsite was still quiet and everyone else was asleep at this time of the morning, Chanyeol didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Kyungsoo and go back to sleep like that.

 

Chanyeol had thought of seeing the sunrise from the beach that morning, after seeing nice pictures of it online, but he didn’t mind missing it in exchange of a few more minutes of getting to lie there with Kyungsoo in tranquil.

 

 

 

Later that day, on the boat ride back to Jindo, Kyungsoo’s fishing vessel was cruising smoothly against the small waves on the placid sea under the cloudy but yet bright blue sky.

Chanyeol sat down low on a stool, closer to the deck of the boat because he was still intimidated by the occasional rocking and the possibility of being thrown overboard.

Since he had been there and fallen into the sea once, Chanyeol hadn’t really been determined or to even think of learning to swim. He had only managed to get by learning to swim with a flotation device during military training, just getting to the bare minimum to pass his boot camp.

 

 

With Kyungsoo busy in the wheelhouse, steering the boat, Chanyeol pondered on the previous night, mostly about his music and career.

Sure, it was nice to hear positive affirmation from Kyungsoo and he now only hoped that his executives in Seoul would say the same thing too. Chanyeol felt a bit good and hopeful about it, although it was nothing set in stone.

 

Chanyeol felt good, not only from the praises but when he remembered the feeling of writing “Fisherman from the South”. When he was writing the song and coming up with the lyrics, he didn’t feel the need or pressure to make a hit that had to absolutely rock the song charts.

Everything while writing the song felt so easy and so natural to him. The words and ideas were flowing from his head and straight to his hands who acted out on the inspiration.

For once, Chanyeol didn’t feel like the washout music producer who had run dry of ideas and resorted to plagiarizing unknown songwriters.

 

Chanyeol had come on the trip to supposedly find inspiration to work on his music but instead, he found something else; which was the real purpose behind why he chose to make music in the first place.

It wasn’t for perfect all kills on the charts, it wasn’t for awards and it wasn’t for the general public to react positively to. It was for himself, his own satisfaction and his own love towards the art of making music.

 

 


	11. Of Resolutions and Departures

 

Through the rest of October, Chanyeol worked on remastering the four songs he had composed and planned to show to his executives back in Seoul. On top of that, Chanyeol was also fulfilling his promise to attempt to make a new school song for Jindo High School, the only high school on the island and within the entire Jindo County.

Chanyeol had less than two weeks left on Jindo and knowing that he didn’t have much time left on the island, he made sure to properly divide his time between working on his music and spending time outside with the people he had to leave soon.

 

 

Chanyeol always knew that the day when he had to leave would come eventually. That was definite and had been set in stone from the moment he made the decision to move to Jindo.

He had never planned to stay on the island permanently as his life and entire career was in Seoul. When Chanyeol had first arrived there on Jindo, all he wanted to do was just to get it over with as soon as possible and go home with new songs he had composed over the months he was there.

 

However, Chanyeol discovered something he had never expected to while there on Jindo and that was the experiences and people he would have never gotten to come across had he just stayed holed up in the concrete jungle of Seoul.

It had been a blessing in disguise to Chanyeol, the silver lining in the cloud that was looming over the uncertainty that was his life following the plagiarizing scandal.

For the most part, running away to Jindo sure did help him hide from the public and all the clout on top of finding new musical inspiration; all those being his original intentions to being there in the first place.

 

Chanyeol just didn’t expect to feel sad, a bit reluctant and dare he might say heavy-hearted to leave the island in less than two weeks time.

 

 

 

 

On days when he was alone at home with Kyungsoo out at sea and Jongin away at school, Chanyeol made sure to use the time to work on his music. So, he could spend more time with them when they were around.

There was always more time and even better resources and facilities to work on his music while he was in Seoul. However, the people here and the experiences on Jindo were something he would never be able to recreate there. And now, Chanyeol realized that truth.

 

 

Late on a Friday afternoon, less than a week away from his expected departure date from Jindo, Chanyeol finally completed the school song he had promised to compose for Jongin’s high school.

It had only taken Chanyeol two weeks at most to get the song done as he didn’t have to worry about marketability or how “mainstream” the song needed to be. Chanyeol just needed to make sure that he was able to properly reflect on the school’s motto and identity, visualizing it in the song.

Chanyeol burned the song onto a CD, making sure the instrumental and the official track was both on it too. He also printed out a page of the lyrics and sheet notes he had come up with, noting that the school could change it as they pleased.

 

Chanyeol would be leaving on Thursday of the next week and before then; he wanted to submit the song to the school through Jongin. Chanyeol wanted to make sure everything was taken care of prior to his leaving.

Without hesitation, Chanyeol left his room where he saw Jongin sitting in the living room on his phone and still in his school uniform.

 

 

“Good, you’re home,” Chanyeol exclaimed, handing Jongin the CD in its plastic sleeve, “I finished the school song. You can go submit this to your teacher now.”

“-Oh but it’s the weekend already and the school is closed. It’ll have to be done on Monday,” Jongin mentioned.

“Okay, then just give it to your teacher on Monday,” Chanyeol mentioned.

“Why don’t we go together on Monday to send the song in?” Jongin suggested, “I mean…you basically wrote the whole thing and I’m just the middle man. I think the teachers in charge of the song competition would like to see you in person in that case.”

“Sure,” Chanyeol agreed almost immediately, “I guess I can do that but I don’t know the way to the school nor do I know the buildings to get around.”

“Umm…I’ll arrange something with Kyungsoo-hyung so he can send you there in the afternoon. Since the teachers might not be free too in the morning until lunchtime. Lunchtime starts at 12.10 in the afternoon so you should come around that time,” Jongin informed, “I can meet you up at the school gates or something and then we’ll go see the teachers together.”

“Alright, that sounds fine by me. So, we’re on for Monday?” Chanyeol asked to clarify.

“Yeah, Monday it is. I’ll let Kyungsoo-hyung know when he comes home in a bit,” Jongin added.  

“Okay, let me know if there’s anything else,” Chanyeol told, before returning back to his room and waiting for Kyungsoo to return home so they could finally have dinner.

 

 

 

Jongin was staying over at Kyungsoo’s house for the weekends and had excused himself to go to sleep earlier than usual that night, saying that he was tired out by homework and the abundance of school activities as of late.

That was something Chanyeol could certainly relate to. He had been a student once, even though that was quite a while ago. Frankly, all he could remember from his life as a student were the all-nighters before an exam, rushing to complete an assignment, the gallons of coffee had he consumed in the process and the following feeling of fatigue because he had messed up his sleeping schedule.

Because, when it came to his career as a music producer, Chanyeol never rushed things and actually made sure his working schedule was well spaced out and planned for beforehand. Personally, Chanyeol didn’t believe in rushing his music because that would mean taking a hit on quality in favor of speed.

 

 

 

At half past ten at night, Jongin was sleeping comfortably and almost snoring on the spare futon in Kyungsoo’s room. Chanyeol found Kyungsoo carrying a pail from the wet kitchen and towards the porch, where the front sliding doors were open to reveal the cool and quiet night atmosphere outside.

“You’re still awake,” Kyungsoo commented, slipping his feet into some sandals before carrying the pail out from the porch and into the small front yard, illuminated by the lightings from the house and in the porch.

“Yeah, I’m not going to sleep so soon. I got bored so I wanted to see what you were up to,” Chanyeol replied, sitting on the porch with his legs crossed.

 

Kyungsoo placed the pail on the ground, in front of the clothing line, before bending over to pick up something inside, that turned out to be Jongin’s still wet school uniform.

“Were you washing Jongin’s clothes?” Chanyeol asked the obvious.

“Yeah, it’ll be dry by Monday. If I don’t do it for him, he’ll forget about it,” Kyungsoo stated, twisting the uniform to drip off the water before hanging it up on the line, securing the clothing with plastic pegs.

“Since I’ve started living here, I have never seen you use the washing machine. You always wash your clothes by hand. I feel like I’m the only person at home who uses it,” Chanyeol casually reminded.

“Oh, I know how to use a washing machine,” Kyungsoo expressed, hanging up Jongin’s second set of shirt uniform, “I just feel comfortable doing things the old way.”

“Then, why did you buy a washing machine in the first place? It looks pretty new to me too,” Chanyeol voiced out.

“It was for you actually,” Kyungsoo revealed, straightening out the wrinkles on the uniform that had been hung up, “Before I put up the spare room for rent, I bought the washing machine and had an internet connection set up for the new renter’s convenience. My dad told me it would likely be someone from the city looking for a country experience, so I had to make sure my house had the facilities someone from the city would be used to. There’s no laundry service on the island, you know.”

“I see,” Chanyeol nodded, “I didn’t know that. I thought you just had internet because Jongin often came by and needed to use it.”

“Well, he was part of the reason too. He was saying something about how his phone bills would be cheaper if I had internet here,” Kyungsoo shrugged, picking up the pail and going back under the porch where Chanyeol was seated at. Kyungsoo then joined Chanyeol, sitting under the porch in the cool late October night.

“You’re a nice older brother,” Chanyeol complimented with a grin, “I’m the younger child between me and my sister so I’m not really sure how it’s like to be the older sibling.”

“Is there a difference at all other than just being older? Isn’t it the responsibility of us adults to guide and watch over the younger people until they are capable?” Kyungsoo pursed his lips at the thought, fiddling around with the handle of the pail he had placed on the floor beside him.

“Well, according to research, there is,” Chanyeol added, “Since you have quite decent internet here, maybe you could save up for a cheap smartphone or a computer for you to look up at stuff on the internet. Trust me, you’ll never get bored with it. There’s always stuff to do and look at. You could even talk with other fishermen like you and discuss fishing spots and new fishing gear, I guess?”

“Ah, I’m not sure if I’ll have the time for it because most of the time I’m out at sea and we don’t get internet connection out there,” Kyungsoo told, “I don’t want it to go waste.”

“Well…” Chanyeol dragged out on the syllable, “If you had a phone or a computer, we’d be able to contact each other easier once I’m back in Seoul?”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo too realized, his face dropping a bit at the reminder of having to part with Chanyeol soon, “…I suppose that you’re right.”

“Yeah, you should really get one. I can even buy it for you if you want,” Chanyeol encouraged, “Jongin is here to teach you how to use it too if you can’t figure it out.”

“Oh, no,” Kyungsoo turned down, “You don’t have to buy anything for me. I mean, I’m already charging you rent to stay here. Since we’ve gotten to know each other, I don’t feel it’s appropriate that I make you pay to live here. I wish I could return all that three months of rent you paid in advance but I used it to buy advance credit for diesel for my boat.”

“Don’t worry,” Chanyeol tried to assure, taking Kyungsoo’s hands into his own, “-some phones are expensive but there’s tons of variety now. We can get you a simple and cheap one that works just fine. It won’t even cost more than 200,000 won. If you want, I can buy it in Seoul where it’s cheaper and have it mailed to you here.”

“That’s nice but I’d still feel bad for it,” Kyungsoo was still hesitant, unable to look directly into Chanyeol’s eyes for long.

“You don’t have to feel bad for it,” Chanyeol clarified gently, his voice as soft as his expression, moving his hands from Kyungsoo’s to touch the side of the latter’s face and rub his cheek, “I’ll do anything for you.”

“Why are you like this. It makes it so hard for me to say no to you,” Kyungsoo sighed, half-smiling, loosening up a little as he buried his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder with one hand still intertwined to each other.

“It’s alright,” Chanyeol chuckled a bit, hugging Kyungsoo at the back of the latter’s head, looking up at the lights on the porch. Chanyeol wished he could always stay like this.

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo usually took Tuesdays off but decided to have the next Monday off instead. As he was technically self-employed and worked for nobody but himself, Kyungsoo had the liberty on when he decided to work.

Jongin had left for school several hours earlier and had promised to meet Kyungsoo and Chanyeol at the school gates around half past noon during lunch break.

Chanyeol had worried that the school wouldn’t let him in because he wasn’t a student nor was he an alumnus of the school like Kyungsoo was. However, he was assured by both Kyungsoo and Jongin that the school only had one security guard who let almost anyone in because nothing ever happened on the island.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol arrived at least ten to fifteen minutes earlier than they were expected to. They were free that day and didn’t have much to do prior to that anyway.

The school’s security guard easily let Kyungsoo and Chanyeol in without any questions, even tipping his hat and greeting them a good afternoon.

 

As promised, Jongin was waiting there and he guided both of them through the schoolyard where Chanyeol saw some students playing basketball or just hanging around the compound during lunch break.

The school was a bit smaller than the ones Chanyeol had seen in Seoul and the building was slightly older too but it was certainly livelier than the ones on Gwanmaedo, where the only schools had closed down because they simply lacked the students to study there.

 

 

“How many students do you have in your school?” Chanyeol asked as he passed by a classroom, walking down the hallway with Jongin and Kyungsoo, on the way to meet the teacher in charge of the competition.

“Three to four hundred,” Jongin answered, estimating.

“Well, that’s more than what I expected,” Chanyeol replied, hoping that none of the students would be able to recognize him, knowing that teenagers tended to be more tech-savvy and up to date with the latest scandals and popular news around.

 

Jongin then stopped in front of the teacher’s office, which was obvious because of the plaque hanging above the door reading that it was specifically designated for that.

“Okay, this is it,” Jongin announced, “I’ll bring you to meet the teacher. I’ve told her that you were a music producer in Seoul but I’m not sure if she knows about the scandal or whatnot. I just told her about it so she’d consider your song entry more over the others since you’re a professional. But yeah, just try to tell her and emphasize that it’s totally an original work just in case.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Chanyeol appreciated that Jongin was looking out for him, although he could say that it did sting a bit to know that he might be carrying around the reputation of a “plagiarizer” for the time to come.

“Don’t worry, I’ll vouch for you,” Jongin assured, opening the door to the teacher’s office and gesturing for Chanyeol to step inside first.

“Good luck, I’ll wait outside,” Kyungsoo informed, patting Chanyeol on the back.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol softly muttered, entering the teacher’s room as Jongin shut the door back again.

 

 

 

The meeting with the teacher in charge of overseeing the new school song’s contest didn’t take more than half an hour. They were done within the entire lunch break hour, leaving a bit of time left for Jongin to go have his lunch too. The teacher didn't even mention once about the plagiarizing scandal, although Chanyeol suspected that she had looked it up.

Before Chanyeol and Kyungsoo left the school, Kyungsoo made sure to give Jongin a bit of extra pocket money to buy some food that he could eat at the cafeteria, although Jongin tried to refuse.

 

As they were walking back to Kyungsoo’s truck, parked outside the school gates, Chanyeol stopped to admire the view of the rice fields outside and surrounding the school. The school building was literally in the middle of all the rice fields, connected to the main road by a small two-lane path.

In late October, after the harvest, the rice field plains were green and the paddy was significantly shorter, appearing to look like a grassy plain in the expanse.

The weather was just nice and cool, although still warm enough to sweat if doing vigorous activity.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo had already swung the door to his truck open, ready to get inside when he noticed Chanyeol still standing still, facing the view with his hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans.

“Not ready to go back yet, huh?” Kyungsoo asked with a hint of affableness to his tone.

“Not at all,” Chanyeol agreed, “I’ll miss this place a lot when I’m back at Seoul next week.”

“Well, at least you’ll be back in a place where the shops are open past 8 pm,” Kyungsoo pointed out, cackling a little.

“There’s that but it’s not going to be the same,” Chanyeol believed.

“Do you want to go have a walk around first before we go home then?” Kyungsoo suggested, shutting the door to his truck.

“Where can we go?” Chanyeol questioned.

“There’s a shop down this road that sells snacks. The students go there often on their way back from school and I did too when I was still in school,” Kyungsoo told, pointing down the direction of the road between the expanse of the rice fields, with some buildings a bit further down in sight.

“Sure, I’d like to walk there instead for a change,” Chanyeol agreed.

“Great!” Kyungsoo then added, “-yeah, we can always come back for the truck later on. Nothing beats walking and being out here yourself.”

 

 

 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol walked on a small side path by the roadside that wasn’t even a designated pedestrian path, to begin with. Chanyeol had accepted that such things didn’t exist on the island. In fact, this “path” itself was just the extra land beside the road that bordered the rice fields, which the island’s residents used to walk on to avoid the non-existent traffic.

It was just a straight road from there to the shop Kyungsoo talked about, less than an eight minutes walk away from the school.

 

“I can’t believe it’s over three months soon since I got here. When I first got here, I just wanted it to be over with but now I’m not sure if I want it to end. I don’t want to leave you, especially,” Chanyeol mentioned as he continued to walk down the side path with Kyungsoo beside him, occasionally looking down to the ground and then back at Kyungsoo.

“It’s alright, you may have come to like this place but sometimes it’s just not right for you,” Kyungsoo explained, “I’m sure most people have attachments to the place they grew up in but sometimes there are better opportunities elsewhere. Living here so far away from the city has gotten me used to people leaving, to be honest.”

“That actually sounds sad,” Chanyeol’s voice dropped a little.

“I’m used to it. Trust me,” Kyungsoo barely sounded the least bit upset, affirming his words.

“-but you like your job as a fisherman so I think it’s lucky that your ‘right place’ happens to be right where your home is too,” Chanyeol remarked, kicking a small pebble on the ground.

“That’s true,” Kyungsoo agreed, “I guess I am lucky than most. I've told you that the population here is actually consistently dropping. That’s why you don’t see many children and the students in the school are dropping by the year. People are actually moving out and dying faster than the birth rate or people moving here.”

“So you really meant it when you said that I was the odd one for wanting to move here instead,” Chanyeol remembered.

“Kinda,” Kyungsoo shrugged, “It’s pretty much a rite of passage into adulthood to actually leave this place now. There are no universities here so if you want to continue your studies, you have to move out. Even if you decided to not continue your studies, you don’t have much of a job opportunity here unless you want to work on a farm or on a boat. I may like it but I can’t speak for everyone else.”

 

Kyungsoo paused, stopping in his tracks to look up at the clear blue sky. On top of thinking that it would have been a nice day to be out fishing at sea, Kyungsoo continued, “-which is why I have to stay here no matter what. So the other people who want to go elsewhere can do so without feeling bad about leaving this place. I will take over their responsibilities to keep this place and the traditions going. I have to admit, when I was in the army, I did play around with the idea of moving to the city and imagined how life would be like but it just wasn’t for me.”

“Oh,” was all Chanyeol could say, also stopping too in his steps, listening eagerly to Kyungsoo.

“Jongin will be finishing high school in two years and I know he wants to pursue his dancing, which he can’t do here obviously,” Kyungsoo stated, “I know he’ll have to go soon too like you. Don’t feel bad about leaving, Chanyeol. You need to do what you love over there too.”

“If Jongin goes to Seoul, I can help watch over him if you want,” Chanyeol offered, “In fact, you could even come to Seoul and visit me anytime if you’d like. You can stay with me. My home is yours too and I can show you around.”

“I’ll see about that,” Kyungsoo pondered, “I haven’t been back to Seoul since I ended my military conscription and the first few weeks of winter which are coming soon are actually a busy time for fishing.”

“Then it’s about time to plan a vacation, isn’t it?” Chanyeol perked up, his ears seeming to do so too.

“You know if I go, I can’t go alone. I’d have to bring at least Jongin along with me too so I might have to wait until it’s the school holidays for him in the winter,” Kyungsoo clarified.

“That’s good too. I’m sure Jongin would love to visit Seoul too,” Chanyeol expressed, "-especially after we left him to go to Gwanmaedo last time."

 

 

 

After arriving at the snack shop down the road, often frequented by the school students, Kyungsoo introduced Chanyeol to the shop owner and explained about the types of food they could buy. The shop, like almost all premises on the island, was run by several generations of a family who lived in a house just behind the shop.

The shop sold packed snacks such as chips and chocolates, as well as traditional and homemade ones like dumplings, red bean buns and sweet cakes.

 

 

Chanyeol couldn’t quite make out Kyungsoo’s conversation with the aged shop owner because of her thick South Jeolla accent. Chanyeol thought that he was used to it by now but when it came to understanding the older people, he still had a difficult time with it, especially when they knew no other dialects.

Outside the shop was a small channel that provided a continuous water supply from the rivers and into the rice fields. Kyungsoo told that the channel was a popular place for fishing crayfish and other kinds of fish that were reared in the rice fields such as carps.

 

 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol sat at the edge of the channel, eating their snacks under the shade of a tree as Kyungsoo reminisced to Chanyeol about how he’d modify a stick to turn into his own fishing rod by attaching a line and a hook, so he could go fishing at this channel after school.

That was before Kyungsoo owned his first fishing rod and when his father would not let him use one after he lost a rather pricey fishing rod in the sea.

Not all the rice field owners were happy with school students fishing from them after school. Kyungsoo also mentioned how he and his friends got in trouble for it once, although he also did say that the particular farmer who scolded them was known for being old and grouchy even until the end of his life.

 

Chanyeol certainly had a different kind of adolescence which was more centered on anticipating new releases from musicians, the latest anime shows and the newest game consoles from his time. Kyungsoo’s growing up experience was something far removed from him but Chanyeol enjoyed every moment of getting watch Kyungsoo’s eyes glisten and his face lighting up as he happily recollected stories from the past.

There was a part inside Chanyeol that wished to experience the same things Kyungsoo did too, also partly wishing to get to know Kyungsoo earlier too.

 

 

 

 

The following day, on a Tuesday, Chanyeol brought Kyungsoo out for their first “proper” date since they had become unofficial boyfriends.

Although neither of them directly asked the question, they knew that they probably didn’t have to because that fact was very evident of itself. There was no doubt that they weren't boyfriends.

At times like these, Chanyeol was glad he never agreed to become an idol when he was proposed with the idea years ago because he would never have the freedom and ease of mind to date should it be like that.

 

 

The date was a simple one but it didn’t stop it from being special. Chanyeol chose a seaside restaurant by the pier at the town center with the help of Kyungsoo's recommendation, which was open until at ten at night at least.

Even though it was a weeknight, late October was a rather high season for travel to the surrounding islands and they weren’t the only ones dining there that night.

Chanyeol did book a private room with glass windows of the ocean view outside, although there wasn’t much to be seen in the dark of the night under the minimal pier lighting outside.

 

 

“What do you think Jongin and your parents would like for takeout?” Chanyeol contemplated as he read through the menu booklet, while he and Kyungsoo were still halfway through eating their main course.

“Oh, they love crab!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, “I think they’d like the marinated crabs. It’s a bit hard to fish for crabs around here in this season so I know they’d love it.”

“Okay then, I’ll order enough for three to go,” Chanyeol decided, folding the menu booklet and remembering to call for the waiter the next time he saw them, “Do you want anything else to bring home too?”

“I think I should be alright. You’re already paying for everything and I couldn’t be more thankful that you brought me out to dinner,” Kyungsoo smiled.

“Well, you spend the whole day out at sea tirelessly and then you come home and still manage to make me dinner almost every night. So, I thought it’s just fair that I treat you occasionally like this,” Chanyeol reasoned.

“Oh, really?” Kyungsoo giggled, slightly abashed as he fiddled around with the chopsticks in his right hand, “As your host here, it’s my responsibility to make sure that you have your meals.”

“Then, as your boyfriend, it’s my responsibility to make sure you have the best of times when we’re together,” Chanyeol declared, not really sure of what he saying, just intending to make sure that Kyungsoo felt cared for and wanted.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo appreciated, looking at his food instead of at Chanyeol because he know would break out in giggles, “That makes me very happy.”

“I know, it makes me happy to know that you’re happy,” Chanyeol agreed in unison.

 

 

As they were leaving the restaurant after the dinner and making their way back to the truck, Chanyeol had offered to drive. Kyungsoo was carrying the containers of the takeout which he would give to his parents and Jongin, stopping at their place first before he and Chanyeol went back.

“The seafood restaurant business here seems to do well,” Chanyeol observed, noticing the crowd at the surrounding restaurants by the pier.

“You should see it in the spring and summer around peak travel season. All the restaurants here are booked by the tourists, we locals have to come by outside of regular business hours if we want to something to eat from there,” Kyungsoo said, “It’s lucky we know the owners so they let us do that.”

“That sounds good for business,” Chanyeol regarded, arriving where the truck was parked at, opening the door for Kyungsoo.

“Yup,” Kyungsoo replied, getting into the truck, carefully holding onto and balancing the takeout containers on his lap as Chanyeol remained standing by the door, holding it open.

“That reminds me,” Chanyeol mused on, “A lot of people in the music business in Seoul own side business like restaurants too. I know a music producer like me who owns a couple of eateries at Jeju. I should have done that too if I knew that I’d almost ruin my career like this.”

“You don’t have to worry about things like that yet,” Kyungsoo advised, “You’re still trying, so go back to Seoul for now and do your thing to impress your bosses. The songs you wrote were great and you made them all by yourself this time. Show them you did it. Then, if that fails, maybe you can consider opening a business here. I guess I can help cook sometimes at your restaurant and supply the ingredients like seafood.”

Chanyeol too laughed along, making light of the situation, “Yeah, you’re right. I will try first and see how it goes.”

 

 

Chanyeol drove slowly and almost leisurely down the dimly lit and deserted island road, wanting to enjoy every moment he had with Kyungsoo in the silence of the night.

After delivering the takeout at Kyungsoo’s parent’s house, they drove back and this time, Chanyeol rested his hand on Kyungsoo’s thigh through most of the drive.

Kyungsoo smiled softly at Chanyeol who glanced over at his direction, every now and then, resting his palm on the back of Chanyeol’s larger hand.

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday of the next day, Chanyeol was busy in the morning with a shopping list of things his family had told to buy for them on Jindo. Most of it was souvenirs and the island’s specialty like preserved fruits and dried fish.

When he ended the shopping trip in the afternoon with more boxes than what he arrived with, Chanyeol had to go online and buy additional luggage allowance on the flight he would be taking back.

Then, in the evening, Jongin came by to help Chanyeol pack up his things. Like when he had first arrived there over three months ago, they were also the ones helping him unpack and set up.

 

 

 

Chanyeol’s flight was in the afternoon but he had to leave earlier because the airport was an hour away and he was to expect bad traffic on the weekday. Plus, he had extra baggage he needed to check in earlier due to airline policy.

With Kyungsoo’s truck, Chanyeol’s belongings were all brought near the dock at the bridge which connected Jindo from the mainland. There, they waited for the taxi all the way from Mokpo to bring Chanyeol to the airport.

 

Kyungsoo had delayed going to sea to see Chanyeol off. Jongin had made sure to say his goodbyes earlier that morning before he left for school. Kyungsoo’s parents and one of their dogs were also there to see him off.

Chanyeol certainly didn’t expect to be seen off by them but they had said that it was common courtesy to do so.

 

When the taxi arrived, they helped load all of Chanyeol’s items and belongings into the trunk and the rear seat, where the boxes and bags took up all of the space available there.

Chanyeol bowed to Kyungsoo’s parents as a form of gratitude and respect, also petting their dog on the head.

 

 

Then, Chanyeol turned to Kyungsoo who leaped into his arms, hugging him like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Chanyeol didn’t cry but he knew Kyungsoo was tearing up and let him stay like that for a while, caressing the back of Kyungsoo’s head buried in his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol hushed, “We’ll see each other again. I promise.”

Kyungsoo wasn’t able to say anything back, although he did nod and Chanyeol acknowledged that.

 

 

As the taxi pulled out from the island, Chanyeol continued looking behind as everyone waved back at him until they were out of sight. This time, he did feel his eyes water, although he didn’t cry.

 

 

 

 

After a short flight that took less than an hour, Chanyeol arrived at Seoul and that was when he began to feel tensed and worried for his future.

Here, people recognize him and know who he was. Here, people knew what he had done and of his scandal. Chanyeol just wasn’t sure if three months and the bigger news in the media was enough for the public to forget about it.

 

Chanyeol dropped off his belongings back at his apartment. It hadn’t seemed to change much at all since his parents came by there on the weekends to help maintain the place while he was gone.

Although, there was that slightly odd feeling of having to readjust to this life again when he had gotten to experience something else new and different.

 

 

 

Chanyeol didn’t unpack yet and quickly changed his clothes before calling for a ride to take him to his parent’s house, where his car was at under their care for the past three months too.

Chanyeol only met briefly with his parents, needing to rush before the end of the business day.

 

 

Chanyeol drove down all the way to the SM Entertainment building, cursing at the traffic and amount of cars on the road along the way. Right now, he really fancied the non-existent traffic on Jindo he had been accustomed to.

Outside the large building, Chanyeol could already see the large signboards of the company’s initials and the large banners of their new boy group’s latest album as well the announcement of another idol group’s upcoming world tour.

But it was the people inside the building that would really determine the rest of his career.

 

Truth be told, Chanyeol wasn’t ready but he knew that if he kept waiting, he’d never be. Therefore, he was about to face this one more hurdle regardless.

 

 


	12. Of Separation and Frozen rivers

 

Two weeks after Chanyeol left Jindo, Kyungsoo came home one November evening to Jongin passing him a sealed package, which had come all the way from an address in Seoul with Chanyeol’s name as the sender.

It was a smartphone Chanyeol had promised to buy for Kyungsoo. Inside the box, Chanyeol had even written easy and simple instructions on a few cards on how to generally use a phone and how to contact him in particular.

 

 

Kyungsoo wasn’t actually completely clueless. He knew how to dial a number and make a call or maybe navigate to the messaging app and type a text but that was that.

New features available in a phone were certainly still something Kyungsoo had yet to explore. He knew how to find the camera app and take a picture but he still didn’t know where to look for the pictures he had taken nor do simple editing with the software provided on the phone.

 

Jongin was there to help Kyungsoo with it though and if he wasn’t around for that, Kyungsoo had already learned how to text Chanyeol regarding his problems with technology. Chanyeol was often busy and didn’t have the time to immediately read and reply to the text, so both he and Jongin eventually taught Kyungsoo on how to look up solutions to his own problems online.

Soon enough, Kyungsoo was typing Chanyeol’s songwriting penname, Loey, into the search bar on the browser app of his phone just so he could read the latest updates and see the latest pictures of Chanyeol online. Kyungsoo even began listening to the songs Chanyeol written as Loey and although he wasn't a fan of the genres, he still occasionally did so for Chanyeol when he heard that music producers could also make money based on how many times someone listened to their song on official platforms.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo didn’t bring his phone with him when he went out to sea and left it in the glove compartment of his truck or at home. But whenever he came back to shore and was done with the day, he would grab his phone immediately just to see if Chanyeol had texted him back.

Now, Kyungsoo really understood why people were so obsessed with their phones nowadays. It was interesting for sure and it greatly helped people like him keep in contact with loved ones who were far away.

 

 

 

 

On Kyungsoo’s day off, once he was done running errands and getting supplies he needed for the rest of the week, he would be at home in the living room with his phone. In the morning, he would usually be alone but later in the afternoon, when Jongin was home from school, he would have a little company.

Recently, Jongin had taught Kyungsoo on what Instagram was and how it was used. Jongin helped made an account for Kyungsoo and set up the basics like a profile picture, bio and followed people whom Kyungsoo knew such as Jongin himself, old friends from the military and even Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo hadn’t posted anything yet himself but he was slowly getting the hang of it.

 

 

“Chanyeol sure does have a lot of followers. He has over one million people following him,” Kyungsoo commented, scrolling through on his phone just after Jongin was done teaching him how to find other people on Instagram and then follow them.

“Yeah, well, he’s a popular music producer. Everyone who likes K-pop should know him since he made a lot of songs for popular groups too,” Jongin replied, looking over Kyungsoo’s shoulder to see what Kyungsoo was up to.

Kyungsoo was just scrolling down Chanyeol’s Instagram feed, pressing the “heart” button on each of Chanyeol’s post and commenting under the pictures with short one-line words such as “nice” or “amazing”.

“-hyung, you should like and comment on all my posts too. I only have a few hundred followers so I need it more than Chanyeol does,” Jongin suggested.

“Oh, sure, I can do that,” Kyungsoo smiled, “Let me finish with this one first. Do you think Chanyeol will see that I liked and commented on his pictures? He hasn’t even followed me back though. Do you think that he knows that this profile belongs to me? I mean, you did put a picture of me and my name in the biography too. Is that enough for people to know it's me?”

“I think he’ll see it but when someone has a lot of followers like that, he gets comments and likes often so I don’t think he’d have the time to read each and every one of them. I follow Chanyeol too but he doesn’t follow me back either because this is his public account. It’s what he uses for his social media presence and public image. Famous people like him usually have a personal side account for family and friends but I’m not sure if he does have one since I never asked.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have known about stuff like that it if you didn’t tell me,” Kyungsoo’s face lit up as he quickly hit the home button to navigate to the messaging app, "Let me go ask him then if he has a personal account. I forgot to tell him that I made an Instagram. I thought he’d know if I started following him but that explains a lot. I’ll go tell Chanyeol to follow you and like your pictures too.”

“-speaking of which,” Jongin continued, still looking Kyungsoo’s shoulder to see what his older brother was up to on the phone, “Chanyeol didn’t post anything at all online throughout the entire time he was staying here. When he went back to Seoul, he posted a picture of a recording studio but that was it. That was odd because I used to follow him even before he came here and he was posting like almost every day.”

“Well, who knows? He might have his own reasons,” Kyungsoo shrugged, typing a text out to Chanyeol.

“I guess so,” Jongin then looked at Kyungsoo instead, guessing that his older brother was also probably the reason behind Chanyeol’s social media silence over the past few months.

 

 

Later that evening, when Chanyeol finally responded to Kyungsoo’s texts after being stuck in the recording studio almost the entire day, Chanyeol was pleased to discover that Kyungsoo now owned an Instagram account.

Chanyeol followed Kyungsoo and also Jongin on his private personal account, with Kyungsoo following him back almost immediately after receiving the notification.

 

Then, Kyungsoo laid down in bed on his side, tearing up a little when he was going through Chanyeol’s private account to find out that Chanyeol had been posting a lot of pictures of places around the island and even the both of them together. Under the pictures were also some nice quotes that seemed to fit and Kyungsoo thought it was touching indeed

On a shelf somewhere in Kyungsoo’s room, the picture of the fish and the transparent photo card with both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol in it was still proudly displayed as a treasured gift from Chanyeol, despite how relatively simple in nature it was.

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol, on the other hand, had received a rather “indifferent” welcome when he returned to Seoul. No one seemed to be talking about it anymore but nobody seemed to treat him in high regard unlike before the scandal happened.

His executives and the top directors at SM Entertainment had agreed to have a meeting with him and decided that he could stay on in the company after his unofficial “excommunication”, although he would no longer be producing for CBX due to the scandal.

 

 

In the first few days after Chanyeol’s return to Seoul, he had submitted his works to the company and within a week or two, he was told to come back to the studio to discuss with a director on how to rework the lyrics to suit the intended group’s comeback concept.

While Chanyeol was often the producer for SM Entertainment’s boy groups and male solo artists, as of now, he would be working with the girl groups and female solo artists instead.

 

Chanyeol saw this as a blessing actually, because even though girl groups weren’t known for having strong physical album sales unlike boy groups, they did better on digital charts and the overall general public. This could just be that chart-topping hit he needed to boost his career and reputation again as a music producer.

One track in particular, which he had written while on Jindo had been selected and deemed “perfect” by an executive director for one of SM Entertainment’s girl group, Red Velvet. That song was “Fisherman from the South” but of course, the title and the lyrics would be further modified to fit the group.

It was now mid-November and the track would be released sometime for an early-to-mid January comeback just right after the holiday and award seasons. Some of the other songs Chanyeol had written were assigned as B-sides for the upcoming album and for other artists within the company too.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol wasn’t done yet though even if this new song would go on to become a popular hit. There were still things he had to do first and one important thing was to formally apologize to the young songwriter whom Chanyeol had plagiarized from, despite how much they initially looked up to him.

Chanyeol felt even worse when he remembered that it was the young songwriter had contacted him at first, sending his song in and simply wanting to hear an opinion from the person they admired, which was Chanyeol. And Chanyeol had to go ruin all that.

His experience on Jindo had taught him that he should be fessing up to his mistakes and apologizing to those he had hurt. If Jongin, a teenager with raging hormones who had yet to learn how to manage his emotions properly could apologize for a small mistake he made, then Chanyeol an adult should know how to better apologize for a bigger and almost career-costing unwise decision he had made.

 

 

Through the help of their respective managers, Chanyeol was able to arrange a meeting with the songwriter who had now been signed onto a different record label and had been actively writing songs for a successful boy group.

At the meeting, Chanyeol dressed formally in his best suit despite it being a private meeting and bowed 90 degrees at his waist when he apologized. Chanyeol wasn’t sure if his apology was accepted or if it would even be perceived as genuine but he knew that it was something he had to do, regardless. Because it was the right thing to do, Chanyeol thought.

 

The meeting went on rather awkwardly on Chanyeol’s behalf at least. He was the nervous one there, despite how much the other party treated him neutrally.

After that, Chanyeol went home and curled up in bed while still fully dressed, spending the rest of the day on the phone with Kyungsoo who had not gone out to sea that day, talking about how Kyungsoo should visit around Christmas time.

 

 

 

But Chanyeol wasn’t done there yet. He still yearned to fix everything he had done and the next step was to also meet up with the members of CBX and formally apologize to them for giving them a plagiarized song without their knowledge.

However, when Chanyeol finally had the balls to meet up with Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin; the three members of CBX, he was informed by their manager that they were currently in Japan promoting their concert tour there.

 

Like the impulsive man Chanyeol had been when it only took him less than a week to decide to run away to Jindo, Chanyeol too quickly booked a flight to go on a day trip to Japan just to meet up with Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin.

Because Chanyeol was an official staff of SM Entertainment, he was allowed to meet with CBX backstage at a concert auditorium on the rehearsal the day before their concert.

 

 

 

With a staff pass ID hanging on his neck; Chanyeol was timid as he was shown into CBX’s backstage waiting room where the three members of one of South Korea’s most successful and active boy group were at.

CBX’s managers and some of the other concert crew and staff were also there doing their own thing so it wasn’t really a private meeting that Chanyeol had expected it would be. Everyone was busy doing their own thing for the concert preparation so they weren't paying any attention to Chanyeol at all.

 

Like the meeting with his plagiarizing victim, Chanyeol bowed at almost 90 degrees as much as his soon to be 35-year-old back would be able to support. 

“You don’t really have to do that. What’s done is done and it’s over now too,” Xiumin, the oldest member and leader of CBX tried to stop Chanyeol.

“Yeah, you must be mistaken and thought differently,” Chen, the youngest member joined in on the conversation, “We know that we’ve not been contacting you over the past few months but it was under instructions of our manager."

Baekhyun, the other member of CBX, also spoke, “We were told not to risk a PR disaster after the scandal since all the blame was to be directed on you since it was really your fault.”

“That is right!” Chanyeol quickly straightened his back again, maybe too fast even because he certainly heard something cracking back there although he chose to ignore it for now, “-I am fully responsible for all this which is why I will shoulder all the blame and hold myself accountable for my actions.”

“We know, but there’s nothing really for you to apologize about,” Baekhyun mentioned, folding his arms over his chest, “We’re just doing fine and it’s not like you forced us into retirement or something like that. In fact, the media and public were on our side when all this happened so we're doing just fine.”

“If anything, we’re worried about you,” Chen interjected, “We heard that after the scandal, you disappeared for months and didn’t tell anyone where you had gone. We thought the worst until our manager told us that you had been in contact with the company.”

“That’s the thing,” Chanyeol raised a finger, “I was on uh…a sabbatical leave to reflect on my mistakes and think things through while I searched for new inspiration to write new songs and make my comeback in this industry. Now that I’ve achieved all that, I am back here to prove that I can still do it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Xiumin responded, “We’re glad for you but you really don’t need to prove anything to us. You just do your own thing and we’ll do ours. We heard you’re producing for Red Velvet now. That’s good. We hope you’ll be able to make good songs and hits as always.”

“Yeah, it’s good to know you’re doing well,” Baekhyun muttered, nodding his head as he patted Chanyeol on the shoulder and excused himself to go outside and practice more for the concert rehearsal tomorrow.

Chen and Xiumin too politely then made their way too, joining Baekhyun and leaving Chanyeol behind in the backstage waiting room.

 

 

 

While Chanyeol was glad that they held no ill or contempt towards him, he did admit being underwhelmed by their response. In Chanyeol’s head, he had imagined a livelier kind of meeting with CBX after not being in contact with them since the news of the scandal.

It sounded farfetched now but Chanyeol had sort of expected them to excitedly ask about what he had been up to, fantasizing that they would ask him to write more songs for them and even dreamed of them asking Chanyeol out for some drinks.

 

Maybe they were just really busy and they had no time to be talking to Chanyeol, considering that he had shown up unannounced and all of a sudden. Maybe their managers were still telling them to keep a distance from Chanyeol or maybe it was just him exaggerating his relationship with CBX.

While they still had a good relationship, it was strictly professional and for business purposes only. It was nothing close but he was still on good terms enough with them to feel bad about not inviting them to his hypothetical wedding.

 

 

Chanyeol was slightly disappointed but he was hardly surprised at all and on the flight back to Seoul just immediately after, Chanyeol was looking out at the blue sea outside the window from his seat, wondering if Kyungsoo was probably somewhere out there on his fishing boat doing what he loved.

Suddenly, the idea of going back to Jindo, returning to that fishing and farming island seemed like the most appealing idea he could think of. Chanyeol really wished he could do that but not while he still had a lot of work to do and an entire career to fix.

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, Chanyeol was slowly getting readjusted to his life back in Seoul again. He hadn’t been gone for long nor was he away for a long time either but once he had gotten a taste of a different kind of life in Jindo, life here in the city would never be the same.

Chanyeol already missed the quiet and slow life that he had experience on Jindo, although he did appreciate the fact that he could find everything he wanted in Seoul within a few miles radius and not having to worry about shops closing before eight at night.

 

 

As December and the end of the year rolled in, Chanyeol found himself longing even more for Jindo and for Kyungsoo in particular. At first, it seemed good enough that Kyungsoo agreed to use the phone he had gifted to contact Chanyeol with. But there was nothing that would ever beat getting to hold Kyungsoo in person in his arms again.

 

Every day, Chanyeol was even more tempted to just log onto his airline website account and book a flight to Mokpo and then take a taxi all the way to Jindo just to see Kyungsoo again. Except, that Chanyeol barely had even a single day off where he wasn’t busy recording in the studio and discussing music with the other producers.

With the new year coming soon and the comeback schedules for the first quarter of the next year already announced and planned, Chanyeol had to work tirelessly to produce all these new music to meet the demand as well as live up to the company’s standards and signature sound.

Now, Chanyeol certainly did miss being able to work at his own pace whenever he decided to like he had experienced while he had been on Jindo.

 

 

 

Unable to meet up with Kyungsoo anytime soon, Chanyeol decided on the reverse; which was to fly in Kyungsoo to Seoul instead so they could meet each other.

A few weeks before Christmas, Chanyeol called Kyungsoo one night to suggest the idea. Chanyeol was finally home after a long day at the studio. He hadn’t even gotten dressed out of his clothes and was still sitting on a couch in his apartment’s living room still in his winter coat and shoes.

Meanwhile, far away in Jindo, Kyungsoo was nicely nestled in a blanket while sitting on his bed with the electric space heater pushed near him and warmly radiating heat.

 

“Kyungsoo, will you be free up around Christmas week? A few days is fine too since I was going to book tickets for you to come down to Seoul,” Chanyeol announced, getting straight to the point as he held the phone to his ear with one hand while his other hand was trying to take his shoes off.

“Oh, about that,” Kyungsoo’s voice dropped and even Chanyeol could feel that he wasn’t going to like the answer that would soon follow. Kyungsoo resumed after a pause, “-I know you’ve been talking about me coming to visit lately and I was going to be alright with it but I don’t think I’ll be able to now. I’m really sorry.”

“Why is that so?” Chanyeol sighed softly, not wanting Kyungsoo to overhear that. Chanyeol was hardly surprised at anything these days but it didn't stop him from being disappointed, although he didn't want to upset Kyungsoo with that fact.

“I told you that I wouldn’t be able to go if it was just me alone and I would like to bring Jongin at least. I don’t think it’s fair that I get to alone and leave my family for the year-end,” Kyungsoo apologized, “I’m really sorry, Chanyeol. I really want to see you again too but some stuff came up and I don’t think I’ll be able to go now.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Chanyeol sounded more worried now, having moved almost to the edge of the couch, forgetting to take the other shoe off his other foot.

“The thing is, Jongin didn’t do quite well on his recent tests and our parents are grounding him for the time being. He has to stay home and study and help around for the winter break now,” Kyungsoo explained.

Chanyeol chuckled a little, easing up when he heard that it was nothing serious as he leaned back and relaxed against the couch, “I see. We did leave him behind that time we went to Gwanmaedo together. You’re right; it wouldn’t be fair if you were the only one who got to go because he’s as much of a friend of mine too.”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry about that,” Kyungsoo continued to apologize, still wrapped up in his blankets on his bed in his house in Jindo. He tried to suggest, “How about I visit you sometime in late February? There’s a school break around then and I should be able to come with Jongin then…I hope.”

“February, huh?” Chanyeol pondered. It was already mid-December and considering how fast time tends to fly sometimes, he knew it wouldn’t be long until February. But it still didn’t stop a few more months from feeling like an eternity away, especially when he had to continue being apart with Kyungsoo.

 

 

 

For now and until they could meet again, Chanyeol had to make do with regular phone calls and teaching Kyungsoo how to switch to the front-facing camera on his smartphone so they could have video calls with each other.

Often, Chanyeol was busy at the recording studio until the late hours of the night and wouldn’t be free to talk until it was way past Kyungsoo’s bedtime. During the day when Kyungsoo was out at sea, they wouldn’t be able to contact each other anyway even if Kyungsoo started bringing his phone on board the boat with him.

 

They were technically in a long distance relationship but despite living in the same country and time zone still, it felt like they were on the other sides of the world due to their schedules that seldom seemed to line up with each other.

Even if they had to schedule the time to talk to each other and even if it was squeezing just a few minutes of video calls, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo still tried their best to find time for each other over the phone. Until the day they could be in each other’s arm once more.

 

 

 

 

Christmas week eventually arrived and on Christmas Eve, Chanyeol was free to celebrate the day with his family after lunchtime. The next day was a public holiday but the record label would still be open and there would still be people in the studio working on the day, which meant Chanyeol would have to go back to work on Christmas morning.  

In the entertainment industry, there were no such things as having breaks when everyone else was on holiday. In fact, it was their time to work harder during that time so they could meet expectations and releases planned for the peak consumer season after the holidays.

 

As a matter of fact, Red Velvet’s new album was actually coming out in less than two weeks and Chanyeol had been responsible for producing their title track as well as at least one-quarter of the other songs on the album.

Although the album had been ready since last month and all the tracks Chanyeol was responsible for had been finalized, he had been on edge since it was announced that Red Velvet would be working with him for their January comeback.

Chanyeol was worried not only for himself this time but also for some netizens talking online about how it was probably risky for the group to work with him because of the plagiarizing scandal. Chanyeol was thankful that SM Entertainment seemed to have a better PR team than most to contain the spread of the rumors, although he knew that they were just mostly protecting Red Velvet’s reputation rather than his.

If Chanyeol thought that late February was too long of time until he could see Kyungsoo again, waiting just less than two weeks for Red Velvet’s album release and hence his first songs too since the scandal, seemed even more excruciating.

 

 

 

When Chanyeol was feeling down, lost or stressed while on Jindo, Kyungsoo would always suggest fishing and on one time, Chanyeol had even been the person to propose the idea that they go fishing.

Chanyeol could still remember how happy and pure-hearted Kyungsoo looked like when Chanyeol mentioned fishing. Those were fond memories for him that he couldn’t recreate here certainly.

 

But here in his parent’s home in a rather urban part of Seoul on Christmas Eve, there wasn’t really a place nor the equipment to go fishing. There were privately owned fishing ponds a bit further from the city center but certainly, none would be opened on Christmas Eve and it was usually closed for the winter anyway.

Things were different here in the city where in the winter, people often stayed indoors. However, in Jindo, wintertime was when the farmers switched to fishing and the fishermen were fishing even more. Kyungsoo had mentioned about expensive seasonal fish that only swam down to the waters surrounding the island at this time of the year, which encouraged fishing even in winter.

 

 

With nothing to do while at his parent’s place as they waited for his older sister and her husband to arrive for Christmas Eve dinner, Chanyeol began looking up online on fishing equipment stores near the area. He wasn’t surprised to find out that they were all closed until the day after tomorrow at least.

When Chanyeol remembered that there was a small river just a short walk down from his parent’s place, he quickly grabbed one of his mother’s brooms to use as a fishing rod and rummaged through the drawers for a long piece of string to substitute for a fishing line.

Chanyeol also broke one of the metal cloth hangers to fashion its handle into a fishing hook to complete his “do it yourself” fishing rod, or rather his not so successful attempt at making one.

 

 

After getting dressed for the cold weather, Chanyeol left the house with his broom-fishing rod and made his way to the small river behind the other houses, only to find that it was completely frozen over.

Chanyeol felt dumb for not realizing that it was bound to happen to a river that was probably six feet wide and three feet deep at most.

Dejected, Chanyeol slumped down onto the icy banks covered with dirt and snow with the broom-fishing rod on his lap, thinking that a problem like this wouldn’t certainly happen in Jindo where it was warmer and only snowed for a few days at most in the winter. And even so in Jindo, it wasn’t the kind of snow that would settle and build upon the ground.

 

It was later in the afternoon but at this time of the day in the winter, it was already starting to get dark and the air was getting colder as the temperature continued to drop. It snowed a lot in Seoul and it would only continue to snow even more in January.

Sitting on the cold frozen banks of the equally frozen river wasn’t actually comfortable for his bottom but Chanyeol wasn’t really paying much heed to it.

It was quiet in the cold with the snow dampening all the atmospheric noise. There was no one or any form of life around because there was no one who even wanted to be outside in such weather and such a time when everyone was already gathered with their families. Except for Chanyeol, of course, who had even attempted to go fishing.

 

 

 

The city wasn’t all that bad and sure Chanyeol could list a lot of benefits of living in an urban area but not when he was missing Kyungsoo a lot, who was still on his rural island far down South in the middle of the sea.

Looking on at the small frozen river, Chanyeol wondered what Kyungsoo was up to at that exact moment. Since Kyungsoo had not yet replied to his texts but it was already starting to get dark, Chanyeol imagined that Kyungsoo was probably on his boat sailing back to the island. Or, Kyungsoo could have already arrived at the dock but was cleaning up and busy loading his catch onto his truck.   


 

The weather app on his phone told Chanyeol that it was several degrees below freezing point at the moment in Seoul, while it was a bit warmer and nicely above freezing point in Jindo.

Chanyeol had read somewhere that during the winter, the sea was actually warmer and Chanyeol was a bit less worried about Kyungsoo, knowing that. The thought of Kyungsoo being alone out there in the middle of the ocean in the cold did worry Chanyeol a little but he believed and was confident in Kyungsoo.

 

 

While Chanyeol was still on the river bank and his phone checking up on the weather, he ended up clicking a travel ad and was directed to a local airline’s website. It was Christmas Eve, all flight prices had been hiked up exorbitantly in the spirit of capitalism and all the seats had been overbooked with people being put on a waiting list.

Pretty much the same could be said about train and bus tickets too and it made Chanyeol well up in tears. Because for once he had time to go to Jindo and see Kyungsoo but there was still something hindering him from doing so.

 

Despite that, Chanyeol wasn’t the kind of person to take his problems lying down and while he was good at hiding from his problems, he was still the type of person to work on a comeback plan while in hiding. Remembering that, Chanyeol knew it was time for him to take action.

Abruptly, Chanyeol stood back up and made sure to not slip on the frozen ground as he strutted his way back to his parent’s house with the broom-fishing rod hoisted on his shoulder. Chanyeol was going to walk in, have dinner with his family, then announce that he would be going to the airport soon after to wait for the next available seat on a flight to take him to any city in the southern provinces so he could then proceed to Jindo.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the person in question whom Chanyeol badly wanted to meet again was on his fishing boat less about ten kilometers away from shore with the soon to be setting sun near the horizon. The skies were a medium blue in color, almost seamlessly blending in with the ocean.

The sea was calm and still with only slight ripples and waves which gently rocked the boat from time to time. The wind that blew over the sea waters was indeed actually warmer than the ones on land, although it was still a cold winter wind by all means.

 

Dressed in his luminous orange winter jacket which was a fisherman standard not only for safety but also to withstand the cold, Kyungsoo was pulling his net from the power block; a mechanical pulley used to haul in the nets after it had been cast into the waters.

Kyungsoo had already collected the fish caught in his nets and distributed them into several ice boxes according to type, size, and market value. Now that he was done, it was routine to remove the nets from the power block and put it aside before going back to shore.

        

                                                    

As Kyungsoo was folding and putting his nets away, he looked out towards the horizon in a direction which he knew to be north and sighed, with his exhaled breath forming as mist in the cold air. Chanyeol was out there far north of him in Seoul, Kyungsoo remembered and he wondered what Chanyeol would be up to at this exact moment.

He supposed he’d find out by evening once he was done with work and back home, where he’d finally have some free time to talk to Chanyeol over the phone or through texts.

 

 

 

Christmas wasn’t a widely celebrated occasion here in the south unlike in the cities as it was a practice brought by Western influences and the rural parts of the country had stuck a lot to local culture.

Although Christmas day was observed as a public holiday on Jindo as per the government’s decree, Christmas Eve was still just another day and the processing warehouse where Kyungsoo sold his fish, was still open for regular business even in the evening and into the night.

 

 

After Kyungsoo had sold off his catch and carefully counted each note he received, he then drove his truck back home down the already dark roads as it began to drizzle a little.  

Kyungsoo had left his phone at home because the truck could get a bit cold and he was worried about damaging his phone like that. Kyungsoo was eager to get home so he could finally hear what Chanyeol had been up to that day.

Unlike in the summer where he always had the windows of his truck wound down, it was perfectly shut and sealed at this time of the year. Therefore, Kyungsoo was unable to hear the rush of air and the howling winds that usually accompanied him on the drive home alone.

 

Alone in the cabin of his truck during the drive, Kyungsoo decided to turn on the radio he rarely listened to. It was usually Jongin who wanted to listen to the radio if he happened to be driving the teenager around.

Jongin was usually listening to mainstream radio stations which played popular chart songs. Kyungsoo wasn’t very familiar with all these songs Jongin liked to listen to so it was actually amusing for him to hear Park Sang Cheol’s “No Matter What” on the radio.

Kyungsoo chuckled to himself in the truck not just at the song he could recognize but also at the fond memories he had shared with Chanyeol that had something to do with the popular trot song.

 

 

 

When Kyungsoo finally pulled over at his usual parking spot outside the fencing of his house, it was nighttime already and he could see that the lights had been turned on inside his house. Jongin’s bicycle was outside the house, leaning against the walls as usual so Kyungsoo knew that Jongin had come over.

But before he went home, he stopped by at the Kwak’s residence to give them some of the extra fish he caught that day and they gave him some traditional cakes in return.

 

 

As Kyungsoo was walking back to his house from the Kwak’s across the road, carrying the container of traditional cakes with him, he heard the chatter of several voices coming from inside his house.

Thinking that Jongin had brought some friends over since it was the holidays, Kyungsoo paid it no mind and walked up to the porch and was about to slide the doors open with one hand when someone else from the inside was quicker to do it for him.

 

Kyungsoo was expecting Jongin or one of his friends but was instead met by the appearance of none other but Park Chanyeol, his music producer boyfriend from Seoul. Jongin was there in the living room at the table in front of the television while doing his homework.

 

 

Kyungsoo was stunned for a moment, unable to say a word as he stood in the porch, well dressed for the weather and carrying the container of traditional cakes. He immediately recognized Chanyeol but Kyungsoo still had a hard time believing that Chanyeol was right here in the flesh.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol began to whine at Kyungsoo who was still at the door, “You don’t know how hard it was for me to get a flight to Mokpo. I had to scuffle at the ticket counter at the airport but I managed to get a seat because someone didn’t show up for their flight. And then when I arrived at Mokpo, not all the taxis wanted to drive here and the ones that did were charging me an upwards of 100,000 won but I did it all so I could get to you here.”

Kyungsoo smiled, snickering a little at hearing Chanyeol’s story, “-but I thought we were going to see you in February. You’re two months early, you know.”

“I know!” Chanyeol exclaimed, “-but I couldn’t wait that long to see you even if it was just for a day or two. I really missed you too.”

“Are you able to get back home though?” Kyungsoo asked, sliding the doors back shut and passing the container for Chanyeol to hold onto while he took off his shoes at the doorway.

“I’ll worry about it tomorrow. I’ll just say I can’t go to the studio because I got a cold or something like that,” Chanyeol replied.

“Well then, I guess there shouldn’t be a problem if you have to stay the night. Your room is as it is. I’ve left it that way since you’ve left. I guess I should go make dinner now,” Kyungsoo smiled, holding onto Chanyeol’s forearm as he tiptoed to kiss Chanyeol briefly on the lips before pulling away.

Chanyeol too smiled as he lifted Kyungsoo’s chin with a finger to kiss him back, still smiling even into the kiss.

 

 

Meanwhile, somewhere behind them at the table, Jongin was trying his hardest to look away and hide his face with his workbook because he was blushing and a bit embarrassed to see his brother and his brother’s boyfriend making out just five feet away from him.

Jongin even felt like they had just forgotten that he was right there.

 

 


	13. Of Redemptions and Conclusions

 

After Chanyeol’s unannounced visit on Christmas Eve, he had to leave the day after Christmas and return to Seoul because he was still needed there, even though he would have liked to stay on Jindo a bit longer.

But now that Chanyeol realized how easy it was to just leave his responsibilities, disappear and leave for Jindo whenever he wanted to, he knew he had to learn to properly manage his priorities if he was going to rebuild his music producing career and also maintain his relationship with Kyungsoo.

 

Chanyeol realized he loved Kyungsoo as much as he loved making music and enjoyed being a big name in the whole K-pop industry. Therefore, he had to make sure he was doing his best to juggle between the two, wishing he could just have both all at the same time.

He didn’t want to leave Kyungsoo behind alone on Jindo but he didn’t want to just up and disappear from the music industry, where it was important for him to keep maintaining a presence to be relevant in a fast pace and changing scene.

The last thing Chanyeol wanted to do now was to be irresponsible and lose both his career and Kyungsoo because of his poor management and lack of foresight before making a decision.

 

 

 

Through the rest of winter, while Chanyeol was busy working on songs with various other producers and writers he was told to collaborate with by SM Entertainment, Kyungsoo spent more days off inside his home rather than going out to sea, when the monsoon season began in January and the seas got rough.

It was actually quite lucrative to go fishing out in a storm because no other fisherman would be out there catching fish and hence, the competition was lower and the price per kilogram of fish could be hiked up to a higher price due to lack of availability.

Kyungsoo was wise enough to know that was dangerous and would not be worth the risk, even if it meant that he could earn his usual monthly income in just a week’s time.

 

 

When Kyungsoo was not out at sea because of the rough weather, he would stay home and mend his nets and service his fishing rods while the television set in the living room kept him company, even though he wasn’t really paying attention to it.

In January, the coldest month of the year, it began snowing sometimes on Jindo and the temperatures even during the day were usually below freezing level. It was too cold and the roads were too slippery for Jongin to be cycling so Kyungsoo would drive Jongin to and back from school almost every day.

 

 

 

On a mid-January afternoon, Kyungsoo was seated in front of the low table in his living room eating noodles with Jongin while actually paying attention to the television this time. It was a weekend so Jongin was already home at that time of the day.

Chanyeol had informed them that Red Velvet’s comeback stage on a weekly music chart show was that afternoon and that they were going to perform the title track that Chanyeol had written while he was on Jindo.

 

Kyungsoo had bragged to Jongin that he had heard the song first even before it was going to be released at the same time Red Velvet was going to hold their comeback stage. Kyungsoo wasn’t one to brag about such things but it made him feel special that Chanyeol thought it was important for Kyungsoo to hear the song and give his opinion regarding it before everyone else did.

Jongin wasn’t really envious about that although he did think Kyungsoo was lucky to get to hear it first before almost everyone else who wasn’t part of the production team.

 

 

After watching the comeback stage on television, Kyungsoo listened to the song again repeatedly on a loop on his phone, streaming it as if he was a die-hard fan of Red Velvet because he wanted to help Chanyeol earn royalties and help the song chart better. Chanyeol had mentioned how important it was for the song to do well on the music charts so Kyungsoo decided that he would definitely help play a part in that. 

That same night during their usual phone calls with each other, Kyungsoo went on and on praising and congratulating Chanyeol for doing such a good job with the song. Kyungsoo didn’t know much about popular songs and its composition but he loved everything Chanyeol had ever come up with even if it wasn’t his cup of tea.

Kyungsoo was biased indeed but only when it came to Chanyeol.

 

 

 

 

As expected, Red Velvet’s new song and album primarily produced by Chanyeol or under his writing pen name, LOEY, went on to become a chart-topping hit not only in South Korea but also in various other countries known to have a strong K-pop fan base.

Red Velvet also won several weekly music show awards with their song and in a way, their success also lifted Chanyeol’s career once again. It wasn’t an easy path to regain his success as a music producer following the scandal and along the way, Chanyeol doubted himself and his decisions a lot but the odds had been in his favor this time.

 

Chanyeol was right that working with Red Velvet would help boost his public image because of how girl groups were better recognized by the general public, even if meant that he would no longer be working alongside CBX whom he had been writing music for since their debut almost four years ago.

His scandal was certainly not forgotten about and through some web searching, Chanyeol knew it was still discussed every now and then but only to be mentioned alongside the fact that he had somehow “redeemed” himself as a producer.

 

 

To supposedly also help him gain back public favor, Chanyeol was sent by SM Entertainment to appear on a variety talk show as a guest star where he would be interviewed by popular MCs about his music production process and how he had overcome the predicament that was his plagiarizing scandal.

Backstage at the shooting studio for the talk show, Chanyeol was coached to sound as remorseful and troubled as possible after the plagiarizing scandal and then come up with a sob story about how hard it had been for him to finally produce new original songs, which was now a famous hit. Supposedly, it was to rake in public sympathy towards himself.

 

But Chanyeol didn’t need all of that and threw away all the cue cards he was given in the dressing room backstage. He didn’t need to fake his remorse or his apology because he knew it was all genuine and had come from his own realization of his own mistakes and shortcomings.

He certainly didn’t need to fake a story about how hard it had been because he had certainly experienced that; when he was basically excommunicated from his agency without knowing if he even had a career to come back to, working all alone on his music in Jindo.

 

 

 

Chanyeol knew it would probably be edited and broadcasted according to the talk show producer’s wishes despite how well he conducted himself but he spoke the truth and hardly exaggerated anything throughout the interview.

Wanting to protect the privacy of the people on Jindo, Chanyeol didn’t directly refer to the island or give out information that might allow people to trace them.

 

Chanyeol thanked the people of the island during the interview without giving out too much information, not only as the people who had helped partake in the music production directly or indirectly but also to those who had given him emotional support to overcome such a low point in his life. Specifically, Chanyeol had Kyungsoo a lot in mind. 

Although, Chanyeol wouldn’t be too surprised if someone did eventually track it down to Jindo and figure out that he was talking about people from there because of the cultural center on the island and the music teacher from there that he had credited in the album productions for the song “Hero”.

 

There was no escaping that if it happened because credits had to be given where they were due- something Chanyeol had painfully learned- and for someone who was considerably publically recognized, Chanyeol figured out that it probably wouldn’t be a secret of his forever.

Except that this time, it was a secret Chanyeol wouldn’t mind being known and not something that could potentially ruin his entire career, unlike the reason that had ended him up on Jindo in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime in January, Chanyeol managed to sneak away from Seoul for a short three days and two nights visit to Jindo. Now that he had done that several times, Chanyeol was getting the hang of the travel to Jindo. He knew to travel light and pack only what he needed. It also helped that he began leaving a spare change of clothes and toiletries at Kyungsoo’s home since it was now unofficially his second home too.

 

The almost one hour flight from Seoul to Mokpo and the following 45 minutes by taxi from the airport to Jindo didn’t feel long as Chanyeol was gradually getting used to it. To him, it was just a regular commute to return to another place he could home and to a person who owned his heart.

The taxi would usually drop Chanyeol off near the bridge at the town center of Jindo, refusing to go further because not many taxi drivers were familiar with the roads on the island. At this point, Chanyeol probably knew the island’s roads better than the taxi drivers themselves.

 

 

It wasn’t a problem though because Chanyeol usually arrived when it was already night after taking the late afternoon flight out from Seoul. Kyungsoo was usually back from the sea at that time of the day and free to come to pick Chanyeol up with his truck.

Chanyeol had to wait a bit for Kyungsoo to arrive though. It was cold, dark and quiet that one night in January and it was snowing flurries too. Due to the shore and the sea being relatively close from where he was waiting at, an even colder wind was blowing in from the sea, sending chills running down Chanyeol's spine.

 

The cold and eeriness of being alone out in such an atmosphere didn’t seem to matter much anymore when Chanyeol could see the headlights and the figure of Kyungsoo’s truck approaching to fetch him from there. Just that was enough to make Chanyeol smile wide and his heart pound.

Even if Chanyeol had never met Kyungsoo on Jindo, he would have still fallen in love with the place in different ways. But it was Kyungsoo who made this foreign place seem like home to Chanyeol.

 

 

 

Chanyeol arrived at Kyungsoo’s that night in January while it was still snowing flurries outside, expecting to see Jongin and the television turned on in the living room when he stepped inside.

The house was quiet and deserted though much like the streets outside, whatnot with everyone safely tucked away in their homes because it was cold and dark. The day always started and ended earlier in Jindo compared to the city.

 

“Is Jongin at your parents?” Chanyeol asked upon seeing the empty house, putting his bag pack down on the floor so he could free up his hands to take his jacket and scarf off at the door.

“Yeah, he has his final term tests coming up in a week. He’s on study break now revising his subjects at home,” Kyungsoo answered, putting his shoes away on the rack as he waited for Chanyeol.

“I hope he does well this time then so you two can finally get to see me in Seoul in late February,” Chanyeol chuckled, putting his shoes away too.

“We don’t really expect him to do extraordinarily well, to be honest,” Kyungsoo informed, “-just an average passing rate is fine. Jongin is an average student and we understand that. We just don’t want him to fail and have to repeat the grade, that’s it.”

“That sounds a lot like me too when I was his age,” Chanyeol humored as he headed for his room, “I probably could have been at least a bit above average but I was always too busy playing my guitar and trying to write songs after school instead of studying. My mother was worried I wouldn’t be able to find a job but I’m lucky my music career paid off in a way.”

 

 

“So what were you planning to fall back onto if, let’s say, you never got signed to make music for a record label?” Kyungsoo supposed, following Chanyeol into his room and then sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I’d probably be a music teacher or tutor or something like that. I’d still be making music in my own way,” Chanyeol guessed, putting his bag pack down on the heated wooden floors and then taking his laptop out to put on the desk.

“I see,” Kyungsoo said, “I guess if you really love something, you’d do anything for it.”

“That’s true,” Chanyeol agreed, plugging in the laptop charger on the wall socket before joining Kyungsoo at the edge of the bed, his weight dipping the mattress even further, “-which is why I’m here now too.”

“-because you love this place?” Kyungsoo assumed, still having to tilt his head to look up towards Chanyeol even if they were sitting on the same level.

“That’s one thing but I love the person in this place right here with me,” Chanyeol almost cooed at the last few words as he traced the outline of Kyungsoo’s jaw with his finger, ghosting and hovering his finger along Kyungsoo’s skin.

“You love me?” Kyungsoo gulped at the end of his sentence.

“Of course. I love you, Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol affirmed, now moving to press his face close to the side of Kyungsoo’s face as he raspily whispered the words of affection just inches from Kyungsoo’s ears.

 

Chanyeol was so close that he was practically breathing hot air against the sensitive skin near Kyungsoo’s ears. His warm breath was a stark contrast against the cool air and it made the hair on Kyungsoo’s skin stand on end due to the difference.

“I love you too,” Kyungsoo returned, moving his face so he could face Chanyeol directly.

“I know,” Chanyeol muttered, tilting his face slightly to the sides, brushing the tip of their noses against each other.

 

 

 

It was Kyungsoo who closed the distance between them, not that there was much, to begin with, and kissed Chanyeol as his eyes fluttered shut. Kyungsoo was the type to kiss with both his eyes closed and Chanyeol was the type to have them half-open so he could see a little bit of what was going on.

 

With the snow falling softly outside and how it was just both of them there without any distractions, it wasn’t too difficult for them to ease up into each other's touches. Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s neck for a better angle as they continued to passionately kiss and make out with each other.

Chanyeol, too, had one hand behind Kyungsoo’s neck and the other on the latter’s back to support his head and body up while they kissed, slipping their tongues over each other's.

Above the wet smooching noises of their lips against each other, Kyungsoo too shuddered and moaned slightly from the kiss. Chanyeol could see that as it happened and he truly enjoyed every image of it.

 

“You didn’t happen to find a lost dog under your porch, did you?” Chanyeol joked, snickering a little as he pulled away from the kiss.

“Of course not, it’s just you and me here now,” Kyungsoo broke out into a grin at the memory of how their neighbor’s dog had literally come in the way between their first kiss.

“That’s perfect,” Chanyeol relished, moving further up the bed and pulling Kyungsoo along with him.

 

 

 

Chanyeol laid Kyungsoo down on the bed beneath him, pinning Kyungsoo from above by the shoulders before diving in for another kiss, this time with the intense yearning for each other after having to be apart for almost a month.

When they pulled away from the kiss this time, Kyungsoo was left slightly gasping and a bit breathless as he pressed a hand to Chanyeol’s still clothed chest, looking up into Chanyeol’s dark brown eyes.

 

“So, you’re sure that there’s no dog in this house right now, right?’ Chanyeol asked again but only to tease Kyungsoo about it yet again.

“I’m pretty sure there isn’t but if you’d like, I can go find one,” Kyungsoo too joined in on the banter much to Chanyeol’s surprise.

Jokingly, Kyungsoo attempted to get up and get off the bed to presumably go knock on their neighbor’s door and ask to borrow their dog for the night.

“Wait! No!” Chanyeol halted, pushing Kyungsoo back down on the bed before he could even get off the mattress.

 

Kyungsoo landed down on the mattress on his back again in a fit of tears and laughter at Chanyeol’s reaction.

“Kyungsoo don’t do that again or else the seas will dry up and you won’t have anywhere to sail your boat and catch fishes,” Chanyeol warned, hypothetically.

“That is actually a scary thought,” Kyungsoo mentioned, feeling like he might shiver just from imagining such a situation.

“It’s alright, that won’t happen,” Chanyeol assured, kissing Kyungsoo again as his hands moved down to the bottom hem of Kyungsoo’s shirt, dipping his hands even lower down Kyungsoo’s body.

Kyungsoo welcomed that for sure.

 

 

 

 

Early the next morning, Jongin dropped by Kyungsoo’s house to deliver containers of cooked meals from their parents who always made lots to give around to others.

During the day, when someone was home, the door was always left unlocked so Jongin didn’t have to use the key to get in. He could easily tell Kyungsoo was home and not out at sea because his truck was still parked outside near the road.

 

Jongin slid open the front doors but saw no one in the living room as he was putting his shoes away on the shoe rack, only to notice a pair of larger shoes there which he knew belonged to Chanyeol. Jongin didn’t know that Chanyeol was in Jindo yet but he sure did now.

Because of how quiet the house was and the fact that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were obviously home, Jongin was beginning to feel scared about walking in on something he wasn’t supposed to see.

 

 

Still, at that age where he got shy and flushed at such displays of affection, Jongin quickly hopped into the house and planned to just leave the containers of food in the kitchen before running back out and going home to study, hoping he wouldn’t run into either Kyungsoo or Chanyeol.

Jongin was hoping to not run into anyone but that just happened because he ran into them both at the same time in the kitchen.

 

Chanyeol was hugging Kyungsoo from behind, burying his face in the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck. Their voices were low and they were murmuring something to each other but Jongin couldn’t hear what it was about.

They were both standing in front of the washing machine which was turned on and spinning some laundry inside, which was an even rare sight because Kyungsoo didn’t use it and Chanyeol wouldn’t have laundry to clean yet if he had just arrived last night.

 

 

Chanyeol noticed Jongin first and greeted him, “Hey, we didn’t hear you come in. How are you, Jongin?”

“Oh, hi,” Kyungsoo too greeted Jongin, removing Chanyeol’s arms from around his waist as they sprung free from each other’s grasp.

“I-I’m good,” Jongin stuttered a little, not wanting to be intrusive, “I’m sorry for barging in. I was just here to send some food. I should go back home and study now.”

“So soon? Are you not going to hang around for a bit?” Chanyeol questioned.

“I would love to but I can’t. I’m sorry,” Jongin declined.

“That’s alright then,” Chanyeol replied, “Do your best in your tests so you can come to visit me in Seoul next month.”

“I will. Thanks. You two have a good time too,” Jongin responded as he was ready to turn and leave but letting his curiosity get the better of him, “What are you two cleaning in the washing machine anyway?”

“Oh, it’s just Chanyeol’s bed sheets,” Kyungsoo answered, leaning his back against the edge of the washing machine.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol affirmed, nodding his head.

 

Jongin wished he didn’t ask in the first place. Chanyeol hadn’t been back there in a month so his bed sheets would be clean and untouched for sure. It wouldn’t have gotten dirty in need of cleaning overnight unless of course for reasons Jongin would like to get out of his head now.

Jongin still needed some time to get used to the fact that his brother, Kyungsoo, was dating someone now who just happened to be an influential music producer who had arguably helped shape the distinctive music that was K-pop today. But for the most part, he too was happy for both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. 

 

 

 

 

In the last week of January, Jongin sat for his final term examinations before he would be starting his next year of high school in March.

Two weeks later in mid-February, Jongin’s results were announced and he was somewhere in the 50th to 60th percentile among all the students in his grade at school. With a minimum of a passing grade in all his subjects, his parents gave him the green light to go on a one week trip to Seoul with Kyungsoo.

 

On the last week of February during the short break before he had to start his 2nd year of high school, Jongin and Kyungsoo were driven to the airport in Mokpo by their father so they could take a flight to Seoul where Chanyeol would later pick them up at. 

Chanyeol hadn’t come to Jindo to visit in February because this time around, he would be the one being visited instead for a change.

 

 

Chanyeol brought Kyungsoo and Jongin to meet his parents and sister, proudly introducing them as his second family while he had been on Jindo. Chanyeol’s parents also seemed particularly fond of Kyungsoo and approved of their relationship with each other.

While in Seoul, Kyungsoo met up with some of his old friends from Jindo or from the military who now lived there. Jongin, in the meantime, was more excited at being able to visit places of attractions he otherwise wouldn’t be able to go to.

As a gift for Jongin, Chanyeol paid for him to attend a one-day crash camp for dancing that was held by a popular choreographer. It was a win-win situation because Jongin was happy and Chanyeol got to have some time alone with Kyungsoo without embarrassing the teenager.

 

 

 

On the second last night of their trip in Seoul, Jongin was already asleep in the spare room of Chanyeol’s apartment where they had been staying while Kyungsoo and Chanyeol went out to a convenience store just a walking distance away.

It was getting warmer by the day but it was still quite cold in late February even though nighttime temperatures were well above freezing now.

 

Chanyeol had bought a pack of instant noodles at the convenience store, to cook later on when he got home. He had also bought a cup of hot coffee and some chips for Kyungsoo at the store before they walked back to the apartment block.

It was around half past ten at night and in a rather densely populated part of Seoul, the roads and streets were far from being deserted from the crowd although things were slowing down as it got later in the night. Many shops remained open still and this was certainly a sight one didn’t get to see often while on Jindo.

 

 

Kyungsoo wore a beanie to keep his head warm as he slowly sipped the coffee from the paper cup, not wanting it to scald his tongue since it was still quite hot.

They walked past a few people down the streets and sidewalks back to the apartment but nobody seemed to mind or even interact with them. This was one of the differences when it came to the city versus a small town where everyone knew each other.

In the cities, people tended to mind their own business and ignore almost everyone else passing by them while trying to make as minimal interaction and contact as possible. In small rural places like Jindo, it was almost impossible to walk to the store and not have to stop to talk to at least a person one had just conversed with probably a week ago.

 

“I already booked my flight to Mokpo in March. I’m going to see the annual sea parting festival you told me about last summer,” Chanyeol announced, swinging the plastic bag from the convenience store as he walked along with Kyungsoo beside him.

“You’re in luck then for not having to worry about accommodation. All the inns and homestays are fully booked in March during the festival,” Kyungsoo smiled as he looked up at Chanyeol.

“I’m lucky to have  _you_ ,” Chanyeol emphasized, smiling back fondly at Kyungsoo.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo replied, slightly embarrassed, “So how long will you be staying this time?”

“I’ll be there for a week at least. I have things I need to arrange since I still need to discuss over the purchase of one of the shop lots in Jindo,” Chanyeol revealed as they climbed up the first steps to get onto the pedestrian bridge.

“You’re really going to open a seafood restaurant on Jindo, huh?” Kyungsoo noted.

“Indeed. I guess I can promote it through my connections and social media presence so in a way I’m also attracting tourists to the island to help boost the economy. Then that way, maybe it’ll encourage more people to stay on the island instead of moving out to the city. Jindo has the potential, I believe,” Chanyeol remarked.

“I see,” Kyungsoo uttered, “Let me know if I can help you with anything.”

“You’re going to be my business partner, Kyungsoo. I’ll name you as a co-owner to the restaurant,” Chanyeol declared, “We’ll both own it together and don’t worry, it might seem scary now since it’s something new to us but I know we’ll get there step by step.”

“Hmm…,” Kyungsoo hummed as they were now descending from the pedestrian bridge, “I didn’t know you were really interested in becoming a businessman though.”

“I’m not, to be honest,” Chanyeol admitted, “I just love Jindo and I love you too so I want to help the island in any way I can, as well as to find more reasons to be with you there. I just want us to be together.”

 

“I know that,” Kyungsoo paused, stopping in front of a closed electrical appliances shop right in front of the pedestrian bridge, “-but you’re making all these sacrifices to be with me and I feel like I’m not contributing to anything.”

“You already did,” Chanyeol assured, holding Kyungsoo’s gloved hand in front of the closed store under the fluorescent lighting outside, “You have helped me in many ways you probably didn’t think of. You saved my career, I could say.”

“Did I, really?” Kyungsoo snickered dryly, “You should give yourself credit too for managing to persevere and picking up after going through such a period of your life. I was there to see it and I knew it wasn’t always easy for you but I guess things turned out alright in the end.”

“-and that is exactly why I said you already did your part in helping me,” Chanyeol softly mentioned, leaning down to press his forehead against Kyungsoo’s which was covered by the beanie, “You’re my anchor, Kyungsoo.”

“I guess I understand when you put it in terms like that,” Kyungsoo smiled again.

“Of course, you don’t have to worry about it. Just do your thing and I’ll take care of you and everything else,” Chanyeol asserted as he pressed a kiss to Kyungsoo’s warm cheek which was still beaming from the smile plastered on his face, radiating warmth and joy even in the cold of the night.

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol kept his promise and stuck by to his commitments when came to visit again in March, not only to meet his beloved but also to seal the deal on the shop lot beside the pier, which he was going to buy in order to start his own seafood restaurant.

There were a lot of paperwork, registrations, and trips to government offices to be done before that could happen so Chanyeol also made sure to relax when he could while he was there on Jindo.

 

 

Chanyeol’s visit this time had been timed to properly coincide with the Jindo sea-parting festival which took place only two to three times a year between March and June. During the festival, the sea would experience an extremely low tide and appear to “part”, which was enough to reveal a path that was usually submerged, connecting the main Jindo island to the smaller Modo island more than a kilometer away.

At this time, it was possible to walk on the rocky path to the islet and hence, the festival becoming Jindo’s most popular attraction and busiest time of the year.

 

Every year, hundreds if not thousands of people from all over the country and even from abroad would come to Jindo for the festival at the right time in the morning just to see the sea part and reveal the strip of land connecting the two islands.

For Kyungsoo who had lived there his entire life, it was something normal for him which happened every year but for Chanyeol, it was still something new for him to get to experience.

 

 

 

Chanyeol knew about this festival even before he came to Jindo because he had read up on it on the internet while researching the island. However, when Chanyeol first arrived on Jindo in July, he had already missed the festival and he hadn’t planned on staying long enough to see it again the following year.

Before he got there, Chanyeol hadn’t even foreseen himself yearning to return to the island again ever once his initial three months were up.

 

But yet here he was, witnessing the festival with the crowds of people while he held hands with Kyungsoo under the cloudy grey sky as the people around were chattering and excitedly walking down the strip of land to reach Modo at the end.

Jongin had come there with them too but he had gone off to hang around with his friends. Kyungsoo’s parents were also somewhere in the crowd, happily telling stories of past festivals and the folklore behind it to the tourists.

 

 

Some of the tourists in the crowd actually recognized Chanyeol and he didn’t run away from them this time, gladly obliging to take pictures with them.

Then, Chanyeol decided that he too wanted to try walking down the rocky ridged path to the small islet at the end with Kyungsoo.

 

 

 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo held each other’s hand firmly while walking on the rocky path with the sea at low tide flanking them on both sides, not really minding the other people around them who were busy taking pictures or even digging for clams in the mud sediments left by the low tide. Apparently, according to Kyungsoo, this was a normal sight which happened every year.

 

Just then, Chanyeol announced, “I should be able to close the deal by the end of this week. Then next month, I’ll come back here for a week too so I can start arranging for the renovation and setting up of the place. While I’m not around, you can oversee the process on my behalf.”

“You don’t even have to ask. It’s my responsibility as the co-owner too,” Kyungsoo eagerly mentioned.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol chuckled, kicking a small stone at his feet, “It’s not that hard like I thought it would be but it is a lot of work indeed. At least I don’t have to worry about a residence and getting a place to stay at while I’m here so I got that covered.”

“My home is yours too,” Kyungsoo said, although they were both well aware and had never doubted that fact ever since.

“-and so is mine,” Chanyeol replied with a smile, “If you ever decide to come down to Seoul again that is.”

“I can visit you in Seoul during winters and before a typhoon hits when I can’t go out to sea anyway,” Kyungsoo planned.

“I’m going to start spending my entire summers too here in Jindo,” Chanyeol added, “My directors said they were impressed with the quality of songs I wrote while I was here and they’ve been eager to tell me to go spend some time here so I can make better songs. That way, we can still be together a lot of the time even if we live in rather different worlds I might say.”

“Well,” Kyungsoo pointed out towards Modo Island which they were gradually approaching down the kilometer-long path, “That island is almost always separated from Jindo but somehow they still manage to come together when the time is right. It’s a bit like us, isn’t it?”

“I’m not an island though,” Chanyeol joked, laughing, “-but if we were, I’d be Jindo definitely and you’d be Modo because you’re smaller.”

“Fair enough,” Kyungsoo shrugged, agreeing with Chanyeol. 

 

For a short while, they were quiet as they stopped to look out towards the calm ocean which was reflecting the color of the grey skies above. Chanyeol still held Kyungsoo’s hand as he sighed, taking in the rush of salty air brought by the breeze that always blew from the sea.

“-but yeah you’re right,” Chanyeol agreed with Kyungsoo, “We can only see each other sometimes now like Jindo and Modo but we’ll find a way together, I can promise you that. So we can always be together.”

“I know. I believe in you,” Kyungsoo declared as their gazes met with each other.  

“Thank you for always believing in me,” Chanyeol gazed back fondly at Kyungsoo.

 

 

 

They may have been brought together by a sea change of events but from here on, things were sailing smoothly and would continue to do so for both of them. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking by with me throughout this journey that was this fic. This fic has been a healing and peaceful experience for me. Sometimes it was nice to know that everything was going to be alright even in a fic and hence, this fic was borne. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and feel free to contact me anytime to talk about the fic or just anything you wish. 
> 
>  
> 
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